FICO Websites for Monitoring Your Credit Reports and Credit Scores

Enclosed are self-guided and self-paced resources for learning more about your credit and ways to enhance it. Please note that when you check your own credit report and your credit score on your own that it does NOT count against you as a hard inquiry. The goal is only to use hard inquires when necessary under the advisement of a licensed lender.

You are entitled to one free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. Order online from annualcreditreport.com, the only authorized website for free credit reports, or call 1-877-322-8228. You will need to provide your name, address, social security number, and date of birth to verify your identity.

When taking on a new mortgage, FICO® Score 2, FICO® Score 4 (TransUnion), and FICO® Score 5 (Equifax) are used in the majority of mortgage-related credit evaluations. Most mortgage lenders will pull your scores from all three bureaus. Obtaining your FICO® Score 2 (Experian), FICO® Score 4, and FICO® Score 5 are virtually free when you have a mortgage lender pull them but it will show up as a hard inquiry on your credit profile and you do not want too many of those in a given period time (consult with you lender on the best approach with handling this). You can obtain your FICO® Score 2, FICO® Score 4, and FICO® Score 5 directly on your, but usually for a fee, although at least it will not count as a hard inquiry.

Recommendation 1 of 2: Visit https://www.myfico.com/products/fico-score-credit-reports and purchase a 3-BUREAU CREDIT REPORT for a one-time payment of $59.85, which includes Scores for Mortgages, FICO® Score Simulator, How Lenders View You, Score Analysis, and more. Through this product, you get access to the components of the FICO® Score and understand what's helping and hurting your score with personalized insights from the company that created the FICO Score.

Recommendation 2 of 2: Most services that offer free credit scores don't give you the classic FICO® Scores that mortgage lenders generally use. For example, you can check your FICO® Score 8 for free from Experian (https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/credit-score.html). Or, if you have an Experian CreditWorks℠ Premium membership (https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/compare-credit-report-and-score-products.html), you can get multiple FICO® Score versions, including the FICO® Score 2 from Experian. Visit https://www.experian.com/consumer-products/score-boost.html and try out their Experian Boost to raise your FICO® Score* instantly, but please note that this credit score is calculated based on the FICO® Score 8 model and not the FICO® Score 2, FICO® Score 4, and FICO® Score 5. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than FICO® Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether.

Average users who received a boost improved their FICO® Score 8 based on Experian Data by 13 points. Some may not see improved scores or approval odds. Not all lenders use credit information impacted by Experian BoostTM. Also, whatever you do, be sure to maximize the free components of these websites for their free services and products that each provides. Only pay for what you are comfortable paying.

Equifax and Transunion offer services and products that could be useful but most of their products and services come at a cost/fee and their free version does not stack up to what Experian provides. Discover offers a Free Credit Scorecard with your FICO® Score*. You don't have to be a Discover® cardmember, and checking will never impact your credit. Visit https://www.discover.com/free-credit-score/ to get started. Other notable mentions include:

WalletHub https://wallethub.com/
Mint https://www.mint.com/
Credit Karma https://www.creditkarma.com/
Bankrate https://www.bankrate.com/
Credit.com https://www.credit.com/content/ccom/home.html?
LendingTree https://www.lendingtree.com/
Wise Piggy https://www.wisepiggy.com/
Compare Cards https://www.comparecards.com/
FreeCreditScore https://www.freecreditscore.com/
Credit Sesame https://www.creditsesame.com/
CreditWise® from Capital One® https://creditwise.capitalone.com/home#/home

You will likely continue to hear that obtaining a secured credit card is a tactic to use to raise your credit score, which ultimately holds very true, so listed/displayed below are some that offer the best perks and do not have an annual fee.