Comments on: Credit Karma Free Credit Score Service Can Help You in This Economic Environment: An Interview with CEO Ken Lin

By: Is CreditKarma Useful?

Is CreditKarma Useful? — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:54:55 +0000

[...] wrote a lengthy review of CreditKarma back in March. At that time, I thought I could use the free service to monitor my credit score [...]

By: Do I Need a Credit Monitoring Service?

Do I Need a Credit Monitoring Service? — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:42:38 +0000

[...] AnnualCreditReport.com every four months for years to keep an eye on things. In addition, I also use Credit Karma to monitor my FAKO score for free. And whenever there is a chance, I try to get a FICO score [...]

By: FreeCreditReport.com Not A Scam But Not Really Free Either

FreeCreditReport.com Not A Scam But Not Really Free Either — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:44:28 +0000

[...] free credit report and credit score offers that you can take advantage of. Free services like Credit Karma are an option to obtain free credit information. If you found information on this Diary helpful, [...]

By: How To Read Credit Reports

How To Read Credit Reports — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:40:22 +0000

[...] score, FICO or FAKO, unless you take advantage some special promotions or use the free service from Credit Karma, for instance). If you have never got your hands on your credit report before, but are about to get [...]

By: Credit Score Ranges

Credit Score Ranges — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:11:52 +0000

[...] or getting one through a free service, chances are the score is a FAKO one. For example, the free credit score offered by Credit Karma is TransUnion’s TransRisk score, not a FICO score. So what are other different scores and [...]

By: Sun

Sun — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:40:45 +0000

@Adam Since every lender uses FICO score, the credit score Credit Karma is giving away for free doesn’t really matter if you only look at the score itself. However, as you said, it’s the trend of where the score is going that needs the attention. Even though every score is developed with different ways to do the calculation, they should all share some common elements to make them valid. I am using Credit Karma to watch the trend, nothing else.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 20:13:56 +0000

Just as a quick check back, my scores showed a 20point deterioration on Credit Karma (month to month), all other things being equal (and an on time month as usual).

When I applied for a mortgage they sent me my FICO (and other) scores in the mail, and there was over a 70 point (in my favor) difference. Being off by these 70 points was pretty serious, its 12% of the scoring range. I know FICO is a proprietary score, but come on, being off by 12%? That’s pretty intense.

Caveat emptor, use the karma service to alert you to sudden drops which might indicate errors in your report and stay away from using it as a guidepost for what your FICO scores really are.

By: Free Experian PLUS Score for American Express Cardholders

Free Experian PLUS Score for American Express Cardholders — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:57:16 +0000

[...] Score, which is at 802 on a scale of 330 to 830. I have used a few FAKO scores before, like the Credit Karma score and the VantageScore from TransUnion, this is the first time that my score went over the 800 mark [...]

By: Friday Finance Findings for March 13th | Finance Money Financial News

Friday Finance Findings for March 13th | Finance Money Financial News — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:53:05 +0000

[...] Credit Karma Free Credit Score Service Can Help You in This Economic Environment: An Interview with … – If you haven’t heard of Credit Karma, it’s worth a look. And to better explain the service and how it can help you in this tough economic climate, Sun has an interview with their CEO. [...]

By: linklings, the stimulus effect on the job market edition | Favorite Home Remedies

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:03:05 +0000

[...] Credit Karma Free Credit Score Service Can Help You in This Economic Environment: An Interview with …: It’s good to see a new player in the credit score market. Watch the only movie that ever featured the credit score companies as villains here. [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 19:35:20 +0000

Well I gave it a try. I thoroughly reviewed the privacy policy and it looks decent enough. Opt-ins are on everything. Companies take note, this is the way things SHOULD be. None of this Opt-out business. The only things you don’t get to opt-in (or out for that matter) are the ads on the site, but I guess that’s half the point and I can choose how I expose myself to these, so that is acceptable to me.

The major comments I received from the site is that I have a short credit history and that I have a large amount of debt relative to my credit limit. I suppose that is a good assessment, except for the fact that I do not have a credit card. I use my debit card exclusively (or cash) so my credit history is exclusively student loans and car loans. This brings me to my second point, I have a no revolving credit so of course everything is going to look large relative to that.

Most interesting to me was the “credit simulator” which allows you to take your current credit situation and predict the relative effects of certain events. So I took into account the above and since I am interested in a rewards card if there are some real benefits to me I checked out what a moderate line of credit on a new card would do to my score. Turns out it would kick it up about 5 of these arbitrary points. Apparently it wont hurt me to check into a credit card but I am wary that this scoring system may (as their policies explicitly state) “emphasize or de-emphasize” certain pieces of information when calculating a score. Since the primary product on the site is credit card offers I take this to mean that they look favorably on opening new accounts. I suppose it wouldn’t really hurt me to get one, but I don’t see an offer that entices me anywhere on the market though I will check back with them from time to time and see if things improve.

For now paying with a Mastercard/Visa (ING and Everbank) approved debit card, and using the credit button and signing for receipts affords me all the benefits of credit card ownership sans credit line.

Now if only I can remember to check back in a month or so to see if there is any score drift!

By: Business & Finance Blogs » Blog Archive » Friday Finance Findings for March 13th

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:05:55 +0000

By: Friday Finance Findings for March 13th : Generation X Finance

Friday Finance Findings for March 13th : Generation X Finance — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:01:24 +0000

By: x

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:50:56 +0000

thanks sun, i think i will take a look at this. nice article