It's Not FICO, But It's Not Bad...Free Credit Scores

The last post on free credit scores for active members of the military brought a response from somebody linking to Credit Karma, a commercial service that does indeed give you a free credit score from one of the three major credit reporting agencies, TransUnion.  I checked into it.  No, it's NOT a scam.  It's not the official FICO (formerly Fair Isaac Corporation) score, but it's, by many accounts, close, and can give you a good approximation of what your score would be from one of the companies.  Best of all, you are not lured into IT'S FREE (but only if you cancel really quick). How can they do this?  They sell advertising to you.  Essentially, their advertisers are paying for your credit score, and Credit Karma delivers your eyeballs to their advertising.

There are a couple of others that work the same way.  Credit Sesame and Quizzle do this with the score from Experian, another of the major credit bureaus.  It may not be the same as you would get from FICO, but according to this article, it should be close. 

In closing, you can get some credit scores for free that are not official, and not exactly what a bank will use when checking you out, because they will probably use the score from FICO (which costs money).  But they will probably be close.  Use all three of the freebie ones if you wish to check, and if you want to keep it really free, resist any offers they have to buy side services. 

Another source of free personal credit checking is Wallet Hub, which is legit if you simply want to keep tabs on your credit.

Free Credit Scores for You--IF You're Active Military

We've discussed the whole issue of free credit reports (which you can demand, once a year, from each of the credit reporting companies, via www.annualcreditreport.com), and credit scores (which you can only get for free if you subscribe to a service from the credit reporting agencies, which will not be free).  But if you are an active member of the military or the spouse of an active military member, you can indeed get a free credit score without subscribing to anything. 

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation is offering free FICO credit scores to active military, but you have to go through military financial educators and counselors your nearest Personal Financial Management Program (PFMP) Office which is usually part of the Airman & Family Readiness Center, Army Community Service, Fleet and Family Support Center, Marine Corps Community Services or their equivalents. 

The only thing is, you can't get Experian's score this way, because they don't have a contract with the FIEF, and you can get a credit score from TransUnion (the "default mode"), or Equifax, but not both.  'Tis a puzzlement, but you can read all about it, and more, at the FAQ page.

Getting a Really Free Credit SCORE...not Report

Several years ago, the feds made it possible for people to get free, no-strings attached credit reports.  These list your credit history, lateness in paying bills, and so forth.  Even though weasel credit reporting agencies have tried to attach monetary strings, you are still entitled to a truly free credit report from each of the three majob agencies, and can ask for it through www.annualcreditreport.com.

But the Holy Grail of credit info is the credit score, the numeric number assigned to your credit history, that is often the make-or-break in deciding if you will be extended credit, and if so, at what rate.  There may be a different credit score for each agency, but the one most often used is the one created byFICO (formerly Fair Isaac Corporation), often called the FICO score.  Fair Isaac says will give you the score FREE.  Well, it's free IF YOU DON'T COUNT THE SUBSCRIPTION FOR SCORE WATCH.  If you cancel your subscription within the 10 day trial period, it will indeed be free.  Otherwise, it's $14.95 month.  Or, you could just buy it for $19.95, with no subscription, and be done with it.

Now there is another way to get a truly free credit score.  Since last July, the Federal Trade Commission has made it possible to demand a free copy of your score if you are turned down for a loan, or if you are given less favorable rates because of your credit score (risk-based pricing).  If so, the lender only has to give you the score that they used (which may or may not be the FICO), the range, and up to four factors that entered into your score.  You can see the regulatory details here.  For more information, call the FTC at 1-877-382-4357 (or 1-877-FTC-HELP).