Credit Karma promises a free score and report on credit, but what’s the catch? Once you sign up, all you need to know about CreditKarma.com.
You also saw Credit Karma‘s television ads on late-night television. Get your score and report free of charge, no strings attached!
But is Karma Credit really legitimate? What’s that catch?
Yes, Credit Karma is a legitimate free website that gives you your Credit Score and report, without attaching any strings. It’s really free and you don’t have to put your number on your credit card or remember to cancel your free trial. In addition to TransUnion and Equifax credit scores, credit karma users also have access to their TransUnion credit report.
While you have always been able to get free copies of your three credit reports from annualcreditreport.com, you are limited to viewing each report once a year. With the new offer from Credit Karma, you can get your free TransUnion credit report back and updates as frequently as once a week. (It’s still a good idea to get your other two reports from Experian and Equifax once a year from annualcreditreport.com to make sure they’re accurate).
How is Karma Credit making money?
How does CreditKarma offer you a completely free credit score if you want to charge $20 a month or more for other services?
Advertising is the key. In particular, marketing focused on your financial habits is very targeted. For example, if you have excellent credit, banks are willing to pay big bucks to target you with their best loans and credit cards because they will ultimately find it cheaper to run generic ads to millions of people who may never qualify for their products.
Do you have to use Karma Credit?
Credit Karma is inherently free. For more than five years I have been using the service. And while they may use personal information to serve ads, they do not share it (to my knowledge) with third parties. And Credit Karma at the end of the day gives some useful insights into your credit fitness.
Get your FREE Credit Karma scores now
Like it or not, in your financial health, your credit score plays a major role. So understanding your credit score is vital and keeping an eye on how it changes over time.
While most services charge up to $15-20 for viewing your own credit score, Credit Karma allows you to check and track your score without a credit card, free trial, or any other catch.
Credit Karma performs what is known on your credit reports as a “soft” inquiry, so this will not be reflected as a credit pull on your reports or cause your score to go down in any way.
To verify your identity and pull your credit, you will need to create an account and provide your personal information… including your social security number, but unlike other so-called “free credit score” sites, there is NO CREDIT CARD or any payment required.
Credit Karma performs what is known on your credit reports as a “soft” inquiry, so this will not be reflected as a credit pull on your reports or cause your score to go down in any way.
What else is offered by Credit Karma?
To verify your identity and pull your credit, you will need to create an account and provide your personal information … including your social security number, but unlike other so-called “free credit score” sites, there is NO CREDIT CARD or any purchase required.
What else is given by Credit Karma?
I was impressed by how convenient — and quick — Credit Karma was to get my credit score, but the service also provides:
A chart that shows the credit score over time
How do you compare your credit score with others by age, income, and state
A credit report card that shows how certain factors, such as your payment history and debt usage, affect your credit score
Tools that allow you to simulate how debt repayment or new credit request would affect your rating
With weekly updates, access to your free credit report
Summary
I have used Credit Karma for more than five years now. It’s still my go-to source for how my credit score works, and I found the comparison and simulation tools invaluable to see how some decisions (such as getting a new credit card or reducing my average usage of credit cards) will affect my score.
