Looking to get your credit score? Well, myFICO is now offering up a free FICO score including a full explanation of the score, telling you how lenders see your score.
Why do you need your FICO score?
If you plan to make any major purchase with new credit, such as a house or a car, your FICO score is a crucial element in determining how much your loan will cost. It might even determine if you can get the loan. But your credit score isn’t only for loans these days. Landlords may look at it before renting an apartment to you and some employers are using it to screen prospective employers.
What does a credit score measure?
The FICO score (which is used by most lenders) is a scale from 300-850 (you want to be closer to 850) which gives lenders a numerical summary of your credit-worthiness. Factors of your credit score include: payment history; amounts owed; credit length; new credit; and types of credit. If you have a high score then lenders don’t have to worry much about you paying back your loan. Because of the low risk they offer better loan terms. With a low credit score, you look like a greater risk for default to lenders and as a result are offered higher interest rates and worse terms. Where your scores fall can cost, or save, you thousands!
What myFICO is offering is your actual FICO score, not a representation that some credit score providers offer.
What’s the catch?
To get your free score, myFICO requires you to enroll in a 10-day free trial of their Score Watch program. This monitors your credit report at Equifax daily and monitors your credit score weekly. They notify you if your credit score reaches a target that will get you a better loan rate and they also notify you if something happens to cause your score to drop. It basically provides monitoring, alerts, and reports.
If you don’t cancel within 10 days you will be charged $12.95 per month that you keep the account open. Score Watch may not be necessary for you so if you sign up for a free credit score make sure you cancel in time (I like to set up a reminder in Google Calendar for deadlines like these).
Is this a good offer?
If you need to see your FICO credit score and you are responsible enough to cancel in time then this is a great opportunity to get your actual FICO score for free.
Whenever we have made a major purchase, such as a car or our house, my wife and I made sure to check our credit scores so we know what to expect in terms of interest rates. It’s certainly saved us money knowing our scores. One time the finance manager at a car dealership tried to get me to take a higher interest loan than what my score would offer. By knowing my score I was able to secure a better loan rate elsewhere which caused the manager to drop his rate even lower in order to get my business!
Check out my review of myFICO if you want to learn more about our experience.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing this offer!
You’re very welcome!
Good post! I was a banker for 36 years and I routinely saw people pay more for their credit than they needed to if only they had been aware of their FICO score and made the effort to improve it.
A little knowledge can go a long way in saving money!
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