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There are lots of services out there that give free credit scores, but they all simulate scores based on their own models. These are called FAKO scores that aren’t going to be used in a credit approval decision. A FAKO score can be significantly different than your FICO score, discrepancies of more than 100 points aren’t uncommon.
Discover is launching Credit Scorecard and it gives a real Experian 8 FICO score. It does not hurt your score if you check your own score. You don’t need a Discover card to join and check your FICO score for free.
AMEX also gives Experian 8 FICO scores to their cardholders and indeed it was an exact match:
Interestingly if you have a Discover credit card they provide you with another FICO score, the Transunion 8:
Barclaycard also provides a Transunion 8 FICO score to its cardholders, it was taken a day later and was 1 points higher than the score Discover gave:
Other programs that you signup for aren’t giving you a real FICO score.
You can keep tabs on all 3 of your reports with annualcreditreport.com, the only government sanctioned credit report site. If there are mistakes there be sure to dispute them! If there are hard pulls that shouldn’t be there, if there are duplicate hard pulls, or if there are pulls older than 24 months old you should dispute those as well. Unfortunately that site only shows your report, it does not give you a credit score.
One trick to get your score higher is to pay off what you spend, besides for a buck or 2, before your monthly statement prints. Once your statement is generated even if you pay it off on time you will lose up to 30% of your score depending on how much you owe that month. You can call your credit card bank to have all your card’s statements print on the same day of the month to keeps things organized.
If you can’t swing that, then try spending on a business card where the spending doesn’t affect your personal credit score. Some other tips can be found in this post from the DD archives.
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32 Comments On "Discover Now Offering Free FICO Score Access To Everyone"
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Dan , I believe that I deserve the HT this time ….. Via DDFB ….. Posted few hours ago already …
show off!
Capital one just switched to CreditWise which is FAKO. It used to be FICO.
@hvaces42:
It was always FAKO. C1 never provided FICO
What about the score that Amex provides?
845… whos got a bigger one?
Thanks Dan! Seems the $2 trick served me well 🙂
Is Chase Slate Fico or Fako ? How about their scoreboard ?
836 No debt to pay on….
Does the fact that they cannot provide me the report online (and I must send in the information via mail) mean that I may have some issues?
I only saw my Transunion score and I have a discover card. Anyone know how I can see the Experian score too? thnkx.
Anyway to check the Equifax score?
@Yerach: follow the link above will connect you to Discover cards Equifax Fico. Interesting that on Discover’s main site they offer Faco.
@Anonymous: The free option from discover is from experian, and the one for card holders is from transunion. non of the options mention equifax.
When I try creating an account to check my score, at the end of identity verification, it keeps saying error…anyone had that?
831 is no show off i have seen 847 from amex and i have a printed letter from chase after applying for a card that says 849 now thats show off!
I entered all my info(name add. email ss#.). and did not receive anything after waiting over half an hour’ I am worried for my identity.
citi has cards giving you equifax
Is spending on a charge. Add same as on business, regarding the spend utilization?
Thanks
suspect identity theft on my Credit Scorecard
this is what comes up for me
Information within the form is either missing or incorrect. Please fix the following:
Last four digits of Social Security Number is required.
The information you entered is incorrect. Please try again.
Welcome back to your Credit Scorecard.
To validate your identity, please enter the last four digits of your Social Security Number.
Last four digits of Social Security Number
XXXX
Continue Cancel
@a yid: Thanks!
@a yid:
@Yerach:
I didn’t mention Citi because they use an annoying 900 point FICO bankcard scale.
@Dan: Thanks!
Just for the record it’s called FICO 8 based off Experian or a trans union.
Another point, FICO 8 score is significantly higher than FICO v2 (the most commonly used FICO.
Credit karma uses their own score too.
Are the credit scores on CreditKarma the real thing?
@Dan, I tried having Amex change my closing date to the same day each month but they said it can’t be done. It will always be a day or 2 off depending on amount of days in billing cycle. Is that not true? HUCA?
651…. how can i fix this
Pretty sure Credit Karma gives free Transunion & Equifax credit scores as often as once a week
@KayBee:
No
@Jersey:
FAKO
Regarding that trick you mentioned about paying off everything besides a dollar or two: How does this help? Do I get charged interest on the dollar left over, or I should pay it off before the due date but only after the statement prints?
Thanks in advance.
@MG:
You pay it before the due date.
@Dan: Thanks. Why does this work? Does the amount owed part of your credit score only look at how much is owed after your statement prints?
I was told that in order to build credit, as I’m just starting out, I should only spend about $5 a month (with a $200) credit line, to keep the credit utilization low. But if my understanding is correct, then if I follow what was recommended here it accomplishes the same thing.
Please correct me if I’m misunderstanding.