Is Credit Karma legit?

I guess it could be considered legit but why would you pay for this? All three credit reporting companies are required to let you view your credit history yearly without charge. I hit one every three months to spread out my monitoring just in case something happens right after checking.

@ARE_you_kidding_me CK advertises it’s services as free, but personally I am leery of providing the kind of information they demand to just anyone especially SS #...

we may ask you to provide us with certain information such as: (1) information that could reasonably be used to identify you personally, such as your name, address, email address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number or phone number (“Personal Information”); and (2) other information about things like your income, gender or household. Some of the Personal Information we collect when you register, like your Social Security number, is required by the credit bureau to verify your identity so that we can fulfill your request for a free credit score and credit report. We may also collect Personal Information or other information directly from you through various other forms and places throughout the Services, including “Contact Us” forms, or when you otherwise interact with us in order to provide or enhance our Services. We may combine non-personal information with Personal Information, but we will treat the combined information as Personal Information as long as it is combined. ”

It’s free @ARE_you_kidding_me.

Nothing like this is ”free” I’m with @Cruiser.

This review had this to say about Credit Karma ‘credit reports’...

“Credit Karma scores are real Vantage 3.0 credit scores. The catch is that Vantage credit scores are not used by most lenders or financial institutions. In other words, the scores is accurate, but it is not the score that most financial institutions will be using when you apply for credit. Most banks and lenders use FICO scores, not Vantage scores.”

@ARE_you_kidding_me

”Credit Karma will always be free. The offers on our site help us keep it that way. When you take an offer through Credit Karma (like for a credit card or a loan), we usually make some money from one of our partners (like the bank that issues the card or the lender who funds your loan).”

Well, as long as the score is accurate that’s all that really matters.

Thanks for tracking all that down, @Cruiser.

Nice article. I feel good now.

Something to consider: You still need to check your credit history, a score just indicates your ability to pay back a loan. If there is some illicit activity going on you need to make yourself aware of it.

I have in the past. They had some really screwy stuff on there. I complained but nothing was done.

I use it. Their scores are nearly identical to when I got a official report. And you can see stuff like anything in collections (I had a few I was actually unaware of).

How they make money is on nearly every page they try to get you to apply for a credit card. At least they score them and only suggest ones they think you can be approved for. They probably make some serious cash for each card they refer that is approved. They do the same for loans.

^^^Thanks I didn’t see any of those details, but I don’t have anything in collections at the moment!