A: Credit Karma is a legitimate company; however, for a variety of reasons, its scores may vary greatly from the number your lender will share with you when it checks your credit.
If there's a downside to Credit Karma, it's the fact that, yes, they're using your personal credit data to advertise to you. It's no different than Facebook using your likes to serve ads based on your interests.
Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma doesn't hurt your credit. These credit score checks are known as soft inquiries, which don't affect your credit at all. Hard inquiries (also known as “hard pulls”) generally happen when a lender checks your credit while reviewing your application for a financial product.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma come directly from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major consumer credit bureaus. The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those credit bureaus.
Credit Karma goes the extra mile when it comes to the safe-keeping of our members' personal information. We use 128-bit or higher encryption to protect during the transmission of data to our site and encrypt data at rest. If we suspect any suspicious activity on your account then we'll alert you as soon as possible.
Credit Karma members will be happy to learn that the company protects users with 128-bit encryption, a dedicated security team, and a bug bounty program. It also promises to never share or sell your personal information to third parties without your consent.
Credit Karma touts that it will always be free to the consumers who use its website or mobile app. But how accurate is Credit Karma? In some cases, as seen in an example below, Credit Karma may be off by 20 to 25 points.
Best Overall AnnualCreditReport.com
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirms that AnnualCreditReport.com is the official website that allows you to access each of your credit reports from all three of the major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — at no cost.
You can get your FICO® Score for free from hundreds of financial services companies, including banks, credit unions, credit card issuers and credit counselors that participate in the FICO® Score Open Access program and offer free scores to customers.
Our Verdict: Credit Karma has better credit monitoring and more features, but Experian actually gives you your “real” credit score. Plus it offers the wonderful Experian Boost tool. Since they're both free, it's worth it to get both of them.
A FICO score of 650 is considered fair—better than poor, but less than good. It falls below the national average FICO® Score of 710, and solidly within the fair score range of 580 to 669.
FICO credit scores, the industry standard for sizing up credit risk, range from 300 to a perfect 850—with 670 to 739 labeled “good,” 740-799 “very good” and 800 to 850 “exceptional.” A 700 score places you right in the middle of the good range, but still slightly below the average credit score of 711.
70% of U.S. consumers' FICO® Scores are higher than 660. What's more, your score of 660 is very close to the Good credit score range of 670-739. With some work, you may be able to reach (and even exceed) that score range, which could mean access to a greater range of credit and loans, at better interest rates.
Credit Karma is always free. Credit Karma won't ask you for your credit card number during the registration process or at any other time. We don't ever sell your information. We do get paid through our partners if you get a product through one of our recommendations.
Some lenders report to all three major credit bureaus, but others report to only one or two. Because of this difference in reporting, each of the three credit bureaus may have slightly different credit report information for you and you may see different scores as a result.
But, despite that, you'd be surprised how many borrowers are shocked that their Credit Karma score is lower than the FICO scores their lender uses. Read on to find out why. And most importantly, what you need to know about credit scores when applying for a mortgage.
Consequently, when lenders check your FICO credit score, whether based on credit report data from Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion, they will likely use the FICO 8 scoring model. FICO 8 scores range between 300 and 850. A FICO score of at least 700 is considered a good score.
Your score can then differ based on what bureau your credit report is pulled from since they don't all receive the same information about your credit accounts. Secondly, different credit score models (and versions) exist across the board. As it states on its website, Credit Karma uses the VantageScore® 3.0 model.
If your bank, credit card issuer, auto lender or mortgage servicer participates in FICO ® Score Open Access, you can see your FICO ® Scores, along with the top factors affecting your scores, for free. Below is a list of some lenders participating in FICO ® Score Open Access. Look to see if your lender is listed.
Checking your credit reports or credit scores will not impact credit scores. Regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is a good way to ensure information is accurate. Hard inquiries in response to a credit application do impact credit scores.
Scores 565 and below are considered Needs Work. Scores between 566-603 are considered Fair. Scores between 604-627 are considered Good. Scores 628 and above are considered Excellent.
Credit Karma offers free access to TransUnion and Equifax credit data, as well as offering tax preparation assistance, and other services. It makes money by receiving a fee every time a user purchases a product or service it recommends. Credit Karma is a fintech startup focusing on providing credit information.
In a statement, Credit Karma spokesperson Emily Donohue said, “What our members experience this morning was a technical malfunction that has now been fixed. There is no evidence of a data breach.” Regardless of if it was a data breach or not, the exposure of personal credit information is alarming.