Five Ways To Get a Free Credit Score (No Trials)

February 5, 2012, 12:18 pm | Business

Yes, there’s AnnualCreditReport.com for free credit reports. But what about your credit score? I’ve mentioned a couple of these before, but here is a compilation of five different ways to grab that credit score for free without the hassle of annoying trial offers. I repeat: No free trials, no credit card number required, nothing to cancel.

Washington Mutual Credit Card
Formerly Providian, WaMu credit cards will show your your FICO score free of charge when you log into your account. It is based on your Transunion credit report, and is updated once a month. I believe is is for all of their credit cards, but I may be mistaken. The catch is that if you don’t already have a credit card with them, you’ll have to apply for one which will ding your credit score – something that’s worth $100 or more to me!

Prosper Person-to-Person Lending
Prosper Lending provides a free credit grade for prospective borrowers, based on your Experian credit data. Details here. Also of note is the $25 bonus for new members once a loan is funded as either a borrower or lender.

LendingClub Person-to-Person Lending
Similar to Prosper, if you start an application to become a borrower at LendingClub they will check your credit on your behalf to find out what rate they will charge you. Instead of a numerical score, you will get a grade like “A2″ or “B3″. Then you can use this key to determine your FICO range. For example, A2 would indicate a score range of 747-769. It is also based on your Transunion credit report.

You’ll also be able to find out what kind of interest rate you might get on a personal, unsecured loan. This is based strongly on your FICO score, but is also adjusted due other factors like employment status. If this is less than what you can currently get on your existing debt, you might consider consolidating your debt at LendingClub. Otherwise, it can just satisfy your curiosity. New lenders and borrowers can earn a $25 bonus for joining by using this referral link (not just the home page).

(Note: If you are currently a lender, you must set up a separate account (new e-mail address) to become a borrower. This is not unethical or “getting around their system”, I asked and this is simply how their system is set up right now.)

E-Loan Mortgage
Supposedly this is to help you shop for mortgage rates, but E-Loan also sells a variety of credit score products as well. See this link at E-Loan and scroll to the bottom for Free Credit Score (Credit Score Only) which doesn’t require any trials. It not a FICO-brand score, but is the CreditXpert score and is based on your Experian credit bureau information. But keep in mind this is good for one-time only, so you might want to save it for later.

CreditKarma
Currently based on your TransUnion data, CreditKarma offers a daily look at your credit score. The catch is that it’s not a FICO or any other major brand of score (at least that is known), but with this service you can track changes from month-to-month. Details here.

You will need to provide your personal information and Social Security number to these companies, naturally, so be comfortable with that. Unless otherwise noted, none of these methods by themselves will affect your credit score as you are requesting them for yourself. However, if you do take out a loan or take some other additional action, a hard inquiry which will affect your score may result.

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