Tracking your credit score is important in the best and worst of times. Knowing where you stand with your credit is empowering. It enables you to be aware of how easy or hard it will be to finance any of the big purchases you’re thinking about. Fortunately, there are many free credit check apps available. And some of them can do more than just check your credit.
Why You Should Use One Of The Free Credit Check Apps
Finding out your own credit score can be a hassle if you go to the credit reporting agencies. But when you sign up for one of the free apps, you’ll have access to your credit report (and possibly score) regularly.
Score
Tracking your credit activity has many benefits. One overlooked benefit is that it allows you to detect any mistakes you’ve made. Many individual factors go into determining your credit score. So, if you notice a rise or drop in your score, you’ll be able to assess your recent borrowing activity more accurately. For example, if you notice a sudden, unexplained drop, you can take it as a warning and assess your situation. Did you miss a payment on a loan or credit card? Did you apply for too many loans in a short time? Regular credit checks can alert you to these problems.
Report
You can better detect unusual activity when you regularly check your credit reports. Sometimes, the credit reporting agencies make mistakes. Other times, you’re the victim of identity theft. If you notice an unexpected but significant recording in your credit reports, you’ll be alerted to a potentially harmful event that can lower your creditworthiness.
What You Need To Know About Free Credit Check Apps
Free credit check apps are great. But they’re not perfect.
The main problem with free credit check apps is that they’re not the most accurate indicators. They are normally quite accurate, but they can’t have the level of accuracy that FICO and the credit reporting agencies consistently do. The information these apps provide won’t be as up to date and on-the-ball. But they’re still a powerful tool that you should take advantage of.
Free Credit Check Apps
Credit Karma
Credit Karma provides free credit reports. You can also get FICO credit score checks for a small fee. In this way, they allow you to kill two birds with one stone.
If you sign up for Credit Karma, you get a free credit report from both Equifax and TransUnion. While it’s not a free credit score checking app, credit reports provide the beefy details that explain why your credit score is what it is. So, Credit Karma’s free reports can highlight your financial mistakes or any suspicious credit activity for you.
If you notice a discrepancy between your Equifax and TransUnion credit reports, you can then request a free reassessment and subsequent credit report from them both.
The only downside to Credit Karma’s free services is that they don’t include your Experian credit report. So, they don’t quite provide a full picture of your situation.
Credit Sesame
Credit Sesame offers a suite of services for those who sign up. Those services include:
- Score updates
- Your credit report
- Identity theft protection
The free package offered by Credit Sesame provides a monthly credit score update and monitoring with just one of the three major credit bureaus. They allow you to choose which of the three bureaus you want to track, and you can do so from your app.
If you like what they have to offer and want more, you can pay $9.95 per month for daily updates with one of the bureaus, and monthly updates from the other 2. They also have higher-level plans for users who want more.
You’re under no obligation to sign up for a paid subscription if you use Credit Sesame’s free package. So, you can use the free package to keep on top of your credit activity with the most popular bureau in your area.
Paid Programs
If you want to pay for a full credit repair package, you can usually get a credit score and credit report updates as well.
The Credit Pros
The Credit Pros is a credit repair agency that offers a free app for members. You can use it to regularly check your credit score. Their goal here is to provide you with an up-to-date credit score, as it would be seen by your bank or potential landlords and employers. Registered users can access full credit reports for free as a part of the program.
The Last Word On Free Credit Check Apps
There’s no reason to forgo on free credit monitoring and updates. By just downloading one simple app, you can get the information you need to ensure a healthy credit score.
