Credit score monitoring

i prefer to use official products/services straight from experian, equifax, transunion, and myfico. you might want to include theirs.

by the way, truecredit is offered by transunion.

Here's something:

http://www.credit.com/products/credit_reports/cr-comparison-chart.jsp

with TrueCredit and daily pulls from the 3 credit bureaus, does that mean i can get my current FICO score at any time as well?

scott1961 said: agent73 said: with TrueCredit and daily pulls from the 3 credit bureaus, does that mean i can get my current FICO score at any time as well?
No, TrueCredit will give you FAKO's from all 3. I use TrueCredit mainly for the daily pulls and to prevent ID theft since they are quick at sending you an alert if your file gets pulled from any of the big 3. I find those FAKO's useless. I pulled my real Experian FICO from MyFico the other day and it was 828 while TruCredit has it as 774. I can understand some difference but that just seems to muchThe FAKOS are useless when compared to FICOS, but they're the first thing I look at - because if the scores change - then I immediately know to scour over my report to see what caused it. If they don't change - them I'm pretty much sure I don't have to waste time looking at the whole report.

Hindustani said: Looks like CreditSecure from AMEX gives unlimited access to all 3 bureau credit reports and all 3 FICO scores. First month is free and $11.99 per month after that. Pretty good price for real FICO scores, reports and daily credit monitoring.

Has anyone used this service? Any commets?
Where do you see that they give real FICO's? I very much doubt you are getting true FICO. Still it is a good price to get daily pulls on all three reports along with alerts. Pretty much the same as TrurCredit but a few bucks cheaper

Based on my research,

- The credit report from Experian doesn’t include a FICO score.
- The 3 in 1 credit report you buy from Experian doesn’t include a FICO score, but Experian’s proprietary score.
- The 3 in 1 credit report from TransUnion doesn’t include a FICO score, but TransUnion’s proprietary score.
- TransUnion sells a credit report with a FICO score, but they also sell their own score and you must select the one you want.
- The 3 in 1 credit report you buy from Equifax includes a FICO score.

If you want FICO (like I do) forget Experian, and forget all those third parties resellers, none of them are FICO. If you want all 3 FICOs, forget that too. Best you can do is buy either the FICO from Equifax (or myfico) and/or Transunion.

Transunion's product is $20/quarter and includes FICO emails 4 TU reports
Equifax has several products. Score Watch is $80/yer for FICO alerts and 2 reports.

On the face of it, TU seems better since you get more reports. I didn't compare the reports though, so I cant comment on quality. But I might try Score Watch first anyway.

Also, Equifax has products that offer family discounts. THis might be helpful if you want to track multiple credit card holders in your family.

Oh, I came across a coupon for myfico, no idea if this really works or not...
http://www.stingier.com/online-coupons/myfico/

Regarding Providian -- When I view my account, it is presented as a FICO score, registered trademark and all. I assume it's the real deal, or they would have gotten sued by Fair Isaac a long time ago.

It's true that you don't get access to your full-blown credit report, but you are provided with primary reasons as to why your FICO score is what it is, e.g., "The proportion of balances to credit limits on your revolving/charge accounts is too high." Also has a FICO Simulator.

IMHO, worth getting a Providian card simply for this feature.

PS. They also provide email alert if your FICO changes by +/- 20 pts.

I use the free Providian score (I'm assuming it's true FICO also, but am not sure).

One downside is that it takes a long time to update. I did some BTs in May, and they were only reflected in my total balances (one of the 3-4 other data fields they provide) a few days ago. I also use the free Paypal Equifax alerts, and they are also quite delayed.

I haven't used any of the other products, so I'm not familiar with their updating speed.

walletfart said: Why does it hurt your credit when a company pulls your report, but these services you can pull all the reports but it doesn't hurt your credit score?


It shows you are looking for credit and will be potentially borrowing more money. A couple of inquires a year would not hurt much but how many new cards or loans would somebody need?

walletfart said: Thanks, I know why the score goes down, but was wondering why these monitoring services don't. How do the agencies know the difference and not to reduce your score if you're checking your own credit?The agencies are the ones holding all the data and, as such, are the ones who release the info to monitoring services, banks, utility companies, etc. They know who's who.

ccualumni said: I searched here and at CreditNet to see what was the recommended credit scoring and credit watch company.

I see a bunch of posts with companies that have FAKO's instead of FICO's.

I want the following:
Credit monitoring
Ability to pull my credit
Ability to see credit score
Some kind of ID theft insurance would be nice, but not required.

If I want my FICO (true score), and would like to have my credit monitored, should I just go with MYFico.com?

I second that. Anyone have an idea?

Also, does truecredit provide ficos or fakos?

TrueCredit is FAKO.

Providian's FICO isn't classic FICO, but it another FICO score offered by FairIssac, similar to the auto enhanced score.

Is PrivacyMatters doing the 14.95 a year thing? I got that back in February, and I'm pulling almost everyday. You have to call the automated system, go to the cancel menu, and they will offer 14.95 for the year.

I would suggest to use FICO.com - This is the score that all Creditors use. Equifax contracts fico to run the scorewatch....
fico also has the same option plus has discounted rates on future reports from any of the credit bureaus. If you do order online use coupon CPPSAVINGS ( 20% Discount )

hiphiphooray said: sbsake said: I would suggest to use FICO.com - This is the score that all Creditors use. Equifax contracts fico to run the scorewatch....
fico also has the same option plus has discounted rates on future reports from any of the credit bureaus. If you do order online use coupon CPPSAVINGS ( 20% Discount )

Yeah but you can get a free 30-day triel on Scorewatch! Does myfico offer any free trials?

You can order the Scorewatch through myfico.com also, but its not as good as the one purchased from the EQ. The MyFico.com Scorewatch only notifies you once a week of changes.

I've done both free trials. It's a good way to get two free scores, as two Scorepower reports are included.

bqlauer said: ccualumni said: I searched here and at CreditNet to see what was the recommended credit scoring and credit watch company.

I see a bunch of posts with companies that have FAKO's instead of FICO's.

I want the following:
Credit monitoring
Ability to pull my credit
Ability to see credit score
Some kind of ID theft insurance would be nice, but not required.

If I want my FICO (true score), and would like to have my credit monitored, should I just go with MYFico.com?

There is not one service that will allow you to do all those.

Your best bet would be to go with a Scorewatch/Creditwatch combo from Equifax as Scorewatch is your Beacon/FICO score, but that is going to be expensive. As far as FICOs from EX/TU, you have to pull those per report.


Is there some kind of taboo about mentioning the benefit of bumpage when considering these? Or does bumpage still exist? Which services can help get bumpage most effectively?

highmktgoods said: Is there some kind of taboo about mentioning the benefit of bumpage when considering these? Or does bumpage still exist? Which services can help get bumpage most effectively?

Mind elaborating on what bumpage is? It sounds like 1/2 of what R. Kelly was talking about in that popular '90s song...

hiphiphooray said: highmktgoods said: Is there some kind of taboo about mentioning the benefit of bumpage when considering these? Or does bumpage still exist? Which services can help get bumpage most effectively?

Mind elaborating on what bumpage is? It sounds like 1/2 of what R. Kelly was talking about in that popular '90s song...

I guess you've answered my question. Bumpage is supposed to allow you to remove inquiries from your report through submitting a ton of soft inquiries. At some point, the credit reporting agency will run out of space when it lists the inquiries on your report, and the oldest ones (the Hard inquiries) will be bumped off. I've seen some indications that it takes around 90 softs to start bumpage, but I'm not certain, and few people actually do it. Also, there is a risk that your credit file will be split in two, and you'll "lose" good tradelines. Further, all of what I just wrote may be false, because no one talks about it anymore. Also, bumpage may not work with some CRAs. So... yes, there is some confusion and I just wondered if anyone can speak about it anymore?

highmktgoods said: So... yes, there is some confusion and I just wondered if anyone can speak about it anymore?
If you want to find about *B*, Google is your friend. Also, it has been extensively discussed in the credit forum at Creditboards. Let's not start another discussion about it here...