It has been more than a decade since the Fair Credit Reporting Act was amended to make each of the three major credit reporting companies -Equifax, Experian and TransUnion- provide people with a free copy of their credit reports once every 12 months.
And yet, I'm frustrated that things haven't progressed far enough to give consumers the same right to their credit score, the three-digit number that can mean the difference between great credit deals or more expensive ones
Ahead of our competitors, we have always offered free credit scores to our customers along with a free debt assessment and consultation.
Last week, President Barack Obama, in a speech at the Federal Trade Commission about privacy and how to better protect consumers from identity theft, specifically congratulated and gave a shout-out to several lenders -JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, USAA, the State Employees' Credit Union, Ally Financial- for deciding to also offer free credit scores to their customers.
This means, Obama said, "that a majority of American adults will have free access to their credit score, which is like an early warning system telling you that you've been hit by fraud so you can deal with it fast. And we're encouraging more companies to join this effort every day."
JPMorgan Chase said that in the coming months, it plans to offer FICO scores at no charge to about 10 million Slate cardholders. "Our Slate customers have told us that information related to managing their finances, such as access to their credit scores, is very important, and we want to empower them with that information," said Paul Hartwick, a Chase spokesman. Customers with other types of Chase cards (Freedom, Sapphire, for example) will not receive FICO score access at this time, Hartwick said.
Bank of America and the State Employees' Credit Union also plan to offer FICO scores. Ally said its effort to provide FICO scores would begin with a pilot program in February and a full launch this summer. Scores will be available to Ally's auto finance customers. USAA said it would fully implement its free credit score program to credit card holders by March and provide the Experian VantageScore.
As good as this news is, there's something missing: consistency. Not everyone is going to get a free credit score, and for those who get them, there will be variations. In the meantime, our customers always get their free credit score as well as a way to monitor that score without it causing a drop in their score. We also offer Identity Theft protection for a very small fee.
Scores provided to consumers through other competitors —either ones they get free or buy— can vary from those generated for lenders. Even the scores under the FICO brand can vary. FICO has updated its scoring model several times. But this does not mean the lenders use the latest versions. So even within the FICO scoring system, the score you get free could be different from the one a lender eventually pulls when you apply for credit. To avoid this headache, Angel Debt Solutions offers only trusted programs with an excellent rating with the Better Business Bureau.
If your score is excellent, small variations won't matter much, if at all. For this reason, we recommend Credit Karma for a close estimate based on the Transunion algorithm. For an accurate score, ask about our credit monitoring and Identity Theft programs. This way, while we're helping you with your credit and debt issues, we can keep accurate and up-to-date scores to match what the lenders are looking for to keep you working toward your goals.
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