Free Credit Score from WSJ article

[Sarah in SC]

Today's WSJ has a piece from Shelly Banjo that includes a link to a site that offers free credit scores for those willing to sign up.
The Best Online Tools for Personal Finance - WSJ.com

The website is called creditkarma.com and I checked it out. Interesting and accurate for my score (at least from the last time I checked). I check my credit report several times a year, but don't pay for the score feature.

[Notmuchlonger]

Yeah I just did it. Pretty much right on. Thanks for the link!

[freebird5825]

from the article...
You don’t have to give the site your credit-card information, as you do with a traditional credit bureau. But CreditKarma, from San Francisco-based Credit Karma Inc., will ask you for your address, phone number and Social Security number. (The site says it doesn’t store the number.)

Um...um...please be careful, folks.
My phishing siren just went off.
I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Um...um...please be careful, folks. My phishing siren just went off. I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this.

Your caution is noted and very wise, but this one is legitimate. It's been featured in several prominent financial publications and partners with TransUnion, which is one of the three major credit bureaus.

Having said that, yes -- people should be extremely cautious about this sort of thing until they've done all the due diligence required to convince them of its legitimacy. And I'm pretty sure the Wall Street Journal, of all places, isn't going to be printing an article promoting a service that's a scam and a hideout for "identity thieves."

[freebird5825]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziggy29 Your caution is noted and very wise, but this one is legitimate. It's been featured in several prominent financial publications and partners with TransUnion, which is one of the three major credit bureaus. Having said that, yes -- people should be extremely cautious about this sort of thing until they've done all the due diligence required to convince them of its legitimacy. And I'm pretty sure the Wall Street Journal, of all places, isn't going to be printing an article promoting a service that's a scam and a hideout for "identity thieves."

Good deal. Now I know this is a green light.
I did go to the web site, and looked under partners. I didn't see any listed, which surprised me.
WSJ is very reputable, agreed.

[Bikerdude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 Good deal. Now I know this is a green light. I did go to the web site, and looked under partners. I didn't see any listed, which surprised me. WSJ is very reputable, agreed.

I agree they seem to be legit although the 2nd link indicates the score may not be 100% accurate.

Credit Karma Launches U.S. Consumer Credit Score Climate Report | Reuters

Credit Scores from Credit Karma are Deflated | Personal Finance Start-Up Blog

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikerdude I agree they seem to be legit although the 2nd link indicates the score may not be 100% accurate.

They don't use FICO. They use a proprietary scoring system developed by TransUnion.

Other than when your application for credit is denied, I don't know of any place where you can get a truly free FICO score. And yet it's usually the FICO that people want.

[target2019]

I ran my score this weekend through Amex offer (Experian), and my score was 790. Just now my score came through CreditKarma/Transunion as 786. Close enough for me.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 I ran my score this weekend through Amex offer (Experian), and my score was 790. Just now my score came through CreditKarma/Transunion as 786. Close enough for me.

Mine is somewhere in that same neighborhood and it seemed pretty close to me, too.

[calmloki]

Wadda pither! 770 and 762 here - we have 2 cards that get exercised, one that gets modest use, and one or two that don't get used at all. Pay in full each month, rare to use 1/8 of our available credit. Haven't done any credit checks or acquired any new cards this year at least. Wonder if our score is impacted by reducing our savings accounts to make loans? Would have thought our score would be very good, not just upper good. sigh.

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by calmloki Wadda pither! 770 and 762 here - we have 2 cards that get exercised, one that gets modest use, and one or two that don't get used at all. Pay in full each month, rare to use 1/8 of our available credit. Haven't done any credit checks or acquired any new cards this year at least. Wonder if our score is impacted by reducing our savings accounts to make loans? Would have thought our score would be very good, not just upper good. sigh.

I played with the Credit Score Simulator, to see what makes it go up or down. Makes no sense, or maybe the simulator is broken.

When you look at the financial markets, which are broken, then it makes sense.

My score is probably 790 due to mortgage paid off, same with cars. We have no long term debt either.

For laughs I changed one variable to declare bankruptcy. My score only went to 704.

[ziggy29]

Yeah -- I learned not long ago that having no mortgage hurts the score. It's high enough that I'm not concerned, but it's pretty funny. I could pick up 10-20 points with a mortgage that wasn't delinquent. Whatever.

[Hershey102]

They can't provide a credit score if you have a credit freeze in place, so I'm out of luck. We use the 'nuclear option' of freezing to prevent identity theft. Since we rarely ever apply for credit, it works for us, but has the downside of not being able to take a peek at our credit score.

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by freebird5825 from the article... You don’t have to give the site your credit-card information, as you do with a traditional credit bureau. But CreditKarma, from San Francisco-based Credit Karma Inc., will ask you for your address, phone number and Social Security number. (The site says it doesn’t store the number.) Um...um...please be careful, folks. My phishing siren just went off. I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this.

Sorry about that--shouldn't have abbreviated Wall Street Journal to WSJ. That is how we refer to it around the office. My bad.

My score was 790, no mortgage. No need to build it up, but the competitive streak in me sometimes wants to, just for the heck of it.

[LOL!]

My score appears to be 70 points below where it was when we refinanced a few years ago. The simulator says I can gain that all back if I pay off my 0% credit card balances which is something I am in absolutely no hurry to do.

[crazy connie]

Down to a paltry 780. I knew I should have returned the overdue library books!

[Alan]

Thanks for posting - very useful. No mortgage, my score was 794.

But our son, who is 26, and does not have a mortgage or ever had a credit card (debit card only) has a score of 764 which is good to know as he is about to go looking to change apartments and was wondering what his credit score was.

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Thanks for posting - very useful. No mortgage, my score was 794. But our son, who is 26, and does not have a mortgage or ever had a credit card (debit card only) has a score of 764 which is good to know as he is about to go looking to change apartments and was wondering what his credit score was.

The only thing he might get told is the dreaded. "Well you dont have enough established credit". Might want to get him a card just to do a few minor purchases and pay them off monthly .

[Alan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notmuchlonger The only thing he might get told is the dreaded. "Well you dont have enough established credit". Might want to get him a card just to do a few minor purchases and pay them off monthly .

We are expecting him to be okay as he has rented 2 places in the past so that past record should hopefully stand him in good stead. If need be I'll stand guarantor. However, you are correct that he does not have established credit, and that could count against him.

[Notmuchlonger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan We are expecting him to be okay as he has rented 2 places in the past so that past record should hopefully stand him in good stead. If need be I'll stand guarantor. However, you are correct that he does not have established credit, and that could count against him.

Sounds like you are on the ball Alan. He has a good dad