> Within the first day of its existence (the option became available just yesterday), the company has managed to enroll an impressive 100,000 users for the opt-in credit monitoring service. The move brings Credit Karma’s total user base to over 4 million.
> Says CEO Kenneth Lin, Credit Karma is now on pace to register over 500,000 users this month thanks to the launch of the new monitoring service.
- On pace to register 500,000 new users this month
- Enrolled 100,000 users in the optional opt-in monitoring service (This is the new option that just became available. You can sign up for the site without enrolling in this feature.)
Seems that they are only using TransUnion. The one thing I've never been able to find is a place where you can pay for a full credit report from all 3 agencies WITHOUT getting automatically enrolled in some monthly monitoring BS. Credit Karma - I will gladly hand over some money if you guys offer a clean cut transaction on a full report from all 3.
But on another note, this is the first credit site that makes me feel like I don't have to take a shower after visiting.
You're right, there isn't a service like this that I'm aware of.
However, getting them directly from the 3 agencies isn't too difficult.
A couple things:
1) As somebody mentioned, you can use AnnualCreditReport.com
2) However, I prefer to call them and request a paper copy be mailed to me. They include more complete information than online versions.
3) Never, ever pay for a copy of your credit report. If you just want a copy every few months, it's easy. There are many reasons by law the agencies have to give you a copy for free. You're looking for a job. You didn't qualify for a better interest rate. You were denied credit. Etc. They don't police it. For example, go to equifax.com/fcra right now, you can fill out the form and have an online copy for free in just a couple minutes. Just say you're looking for a job, it'll work fine. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing morally dubious about this: This is YOUR credit report.
4) Don't ever pay for a "score" from them. In nearly every case, they will not be a real Fico score anyway. They will be the agencies proprietary, useless score. Lenders use fico. If you want to know your fico, you can purchase it from MyFico.com. There are usually promo codes if you look around.
Certain store credit cards offered by GE Money Bank (like the Walmart card, and others like IIRC Lowes, Kohls, etc) offer a free monthly Fico score on their account management website.
One final note abotu Fico: Experian does not allow you to buy a Fico. It's totally lame. You can buy a fico via MyFico for TransUnion and Equifax, though. If you want to know your Experian score, there's a couple credit unions that offer it to their members, otherwise your best bet is to ask the loan officer next time you're getting a car or mortgage.
And be advised that there are MANY different fico scores: Fico has tweaked the formula several times, and they still sell various older versions of it, and they sell special "enhanced" versions -- so a mortgage lender can buy a "Mortgage Enhanced" fico that places more weight on your installment loan history, for example. All of this means that the score you can buy on MyFico has only a relation to the one a lender would see when they run your credit.
There are many cheap sites that provide credit monitoring and reporting from all three agencies on a monthly basis.
I get mycreditinform.com for free with my CapitalOne MasterCard. They're OK, they provide very detailed raw data and info that you can go through and read.
But what I want is not on a monthly basis. It looks like that site is 8.99 per month while what I want is a complete snapshot without getting enrolled in a monthly payment plan for monitoring. Basically just pay once for my current credit report and nothing else.
i ask because it seems like the kind of thing that would be worth knowing before signing up for something free. if i am paying for something then i am the client, but if not, am i - or my data - being used somehow?
Just like Mint does I'm sure. Their site has a ton of credit card offers to lower interest rates, balance transfers, etc. I'm sure those companies give Credit Karma a sum of money for every credit card offer someone takes up.
> Says CEO Kenneth Lin, Credit Karma is now on pace to register over 500,000 users this month thanks to the launch of the new monitoring service.
huh?