A lot of sites will give you a credit score. Most people don't know you have multiple scores. FICO tends to be used more than VantageScore, but some say that's changing. They're all worth paying attention to, but FICO is likely to be the one a creditor will pull when you apply for loans and stuff. Each service below has different features, you can find them on their respective websites.
I've only found one that gives you a FICO score.
- Discover Credit Scorecard - Discover will give you your Experian FICO score
This is the one I tend to use the most, simply because FICO is used more than VantageScore. That said, this is only one FICO score from one beauru, Experian. It's pretty basic. Sign up, answer some questions, and you'll get your score. No bells and whistles, but it gets the job done.
There are a lot of these sites around. VantageScore isn't used as widely, but as I said, that may be changing. It was created by the three beaurus, not an outside organization like FICO was. Chances are you've heard of some of these sites.
- CreditKarma - Probably the most well-known one
- CapitalOne CreditWise - One thing I like about this one is that you can get email notifications if your credit report changes.
- CreditSesame
- NerdWallet
You're entitled to one free credit report from each beauru annually - as in one every 12 months, not one per calendar year. These are important to review regularly. You'll probably want to request one report at a time, and space it out through the year. Credit reports have a ton of information on them, but your credit score is not one of them. It will, though, have inquiries on your credit, missed payments, etc. If any of that is wrong, you can dispute that with the agency. There's only one place authorized by federal law to get your report. Despite the somewhat sketchy name, it is: AnnualCreditReport.com
I'm not all that qualified to talk about this, because I've only held mine for about nine months. The following is my opinion only.
I have a Discover it card, and I really like it. It doesn't have a bunch of frills, but it's a bit more than the barebones card you might get from your credit union. For example:
- 5% cash-back on rotating quarterly categories (restaurants, Amazon, gas, etc.)
- 1% cash-back on everything else
- Price matching - they'll refund you the difference if you find the same product cheaper elsewhere
- Extended warranties - they will provide up to $500 if something you buy breaks within a certain period
- Cash-back match - this is a promo, so it might change, but currently they will match all the cash-back you get within the first year (as long as you pay all your bills on time) after that first year is up.
- And like all widely-accepted credit cards, zero liability fraud protection. I can attest to this firsthand. Long story short, I saw some fraudulent charges on my account, called them up, and within fifteen minutes they were all disputed, old card was cancelled, and new one was in the mail.
If I've piqued your interest on this card, perhaps you would consider signing up with my referral link. We'll both get $50 out of it!