Yes, It IS Possible to Get a Free Credit Score
June 17, 2008 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about how if you want access to your credit score, you have to pay for it.
I was wrong. And I’m glad to be.
Ken Lin over at Credit Karma contacted and let me know that there is a free service that allows you to see your credit score — and track how you are doing. It’s his own Credit Karma Web site.
It’s not free to Credit Karma, though. The company pays TransUnion for a copy of your credit score, which is then displayed. So you will have to provide your Social Security Number and identifying information. However, Lin insists, the information is never shared with third parties.
You can login to keep tabs on what your credit score is doing, and the Web site offers a number of helpful hints and information on credit scores and reports in general. Here is a screenshot from the Credit Karma Web site:
You can see where you fit in terms of credit score on a national scale, and you learn about the different scales used by each of the three major credit bureaus. I found this an exciting and helpful personal finances tool.
Since Credit Karma does pay for the credit score (instead of you), the Web site has to make money somehow. It does so through ad revenue and when you click on various offers that are listed on the site, along with your credit score. I think Ken Lin sums it up pretty well with what he told me via email:
We pay for the scores through our advertising revenue much like a Yahoo or Google. With that said, we don’t sell or share consumer information, we just sell advertising space. We think this is a win-win-win. Consumers get free access to something they should have always had. Advertisers get to message consumers without compromising consumer privacy. Credit bureaus continue to make money from the sale of the credit score.
It is important to note that this is just one company’s score, and that others’ scores aren’t on here. But Credit Karma does give you a general idea of where you are at, and that can be very helpful in terms of getting an idea of how you can improve how your personal finances look to banks, employers and landlords.
When used in conjunction with annualcreditreport.com, Credit Karma can be a great tool for monitoring your credit and keeping tabs on your financial history.
image source: screenshot at Credit Karma.
It’s not that I doubt Ken’s statement that they don’t share the info, but I always think multiple times before putting my social security number into an online db. But I’m a dinosaur—as I find myself saying more and more these days.
You should always be careful of where you put your SNN, no matter who is asking for it. One thing you can do is close the browser window and empty your cache after you are done. But that won’t solve the database problem.
If it makes you feel better (and it probably doesn’t) I worry more about the situations where actual people, rather than data retrieval systems, are looking at your SSN. Think about it: Any clerical paper pusher can steal your SSN off a credit application, W-4 filled out for an employer, the health record you fill in at the Dr.’s office, and just about anywhere else where you share this very personal information.
I agree totally! It was internal workers who stole identity info from ChoicePoint and no one would have known if it hadn’t been for the California law requiring CA residents be notified.
What really got me was when stores started asking for an SSN at the check stand. I’d refuse and nothing would happen. They were just trying to add info to their database!
Yikes! I’ve never been asked for SSN at the store. When I’m asked for it now, I simply say “What is it used for?”
And then ask if maybe my DL or my address would work instead — since it’s almost always for identification. Which, interestingly, was one of the very things the creating the SSN stated it wasn’t to be used for.
@ Miki
You should definitely be diligent anytime someone ask you for you such personal information. We recognize the same concerns. We have dozens of security features:
Most notable, we made the decision not to store your full SSN anywhere within our system. That way in the unlikely event that our systems are compromised, there is incomplete user data. We also have to go through several security audits as part of our agreement with the bureaus.
With that said, not system is fail safe. We will continue to look for alternative ways to validate users.
Yes, identification. Funny, since most Americans go up in smoke over the idea of a national identification card.
What really gets me is that all that’s actually needed is the last four digits, not the whole number. And figuring out the whole number is almost impossible. But try and tell that to all the places that use them. How ’bout mentioning that to Ken next time you talk to him.
As you can see, Miki, Ken has answered your question. :) Thanks, Ken, for chiming in, and for sharing more information on this service.
Hi Ken, our comments crossed in cyberspace.
Your system sounds better than most, but I’m still wondering why you, or anyone, needs full SS numbers. Worse, I get stuff in the mail with my full SS number on it and Social Security requests sensitive data be sent through the mail. Ugh:)
I think — and Ken can back me up on this or refute me — the whole thing is needed initially to access the credit score from the bureau. I know that the whole thing is needed when you go to annualcreditreport.com and order up your credit report.
I know the whole number is needed, but it’s not necessary. If ALL the info crowd would shift to last four digits the problem would be solved. Of course, the likelihood of that happening is far lower than that of Hell freezing over.
I see what you are saying now. Good luck with that :)
Miranda is right we need it because the bureaus require it. It’s a interesting paradox. We need SSN to verify that you are who you say you are and yet people don’t want to give it away for the exact same reason.
Think about the alternative, would you rather a company provides a user access to a credit file without the SSN or with? I think you can make a compelling argument for both.
Ah, the information age!
But I do like that Ken’s site stores the info in an incomplete form, and that, for the most part, other humans never actually see it.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
Thanks, Tim, for the link! While the site allows access to your free credit report, though, it doesn’t offer free access to your score.
This is great information Miranda! Thanks a bunch for Ken’s site.