myFico Review: Is it Worth It to Check Your Credit?

Your credit score has a tremendous impact on your financial life. I like to think of it as the equivalent of your adult report card.

But unlike school, your credit score stays with you forever. A high credit score can save you tons of money in loan fees, interest rates, and even factors into future employment opportunities.

If you want to earn and maintain a high credit score, you need to monitor it regularly. As Peter Drucker said about goals, “If you want to manage it, you have to measure it.”

That quote applies to almost every area of life but when it comes to measuring your credit score it can be very difficult — as your FICO credit score isn’t widely available.

But myFICO is an incredibly helpful and reliable tool when it comes to managing your credit score.

myFICO makes it simple to sign up.  Here’s how you can get started quickly and start monitoring your credit score today.

What is myFICO?

myFICO is a division of FICO that offers products to help you better understand your credit reports and credit score. Yes, they actually provide your credit score as well!

They obtain your financial information from the big three credit reporting agencies — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian®.

Without myFICO, you are allowed to pull each credit report once per year from each agency, but they do not include your actual credit score.

Instead, they provide a general overview of your credit history, open accounts, anything outstanding, etc.

But, with myFICO you are able to see your credit reports on a regular basis and are able to access your FICO score, not an estimation like Credit Karma.

They also provide a historical tracking graph of your FICO score so you can see how your scores fluctuate over time.

If you want to get started now, click here. If you’re still on the fence about myFICO, keep reading to see all the benefits it can offer to help your credit score and improve your financial life.

What Products Does myFICO Offer?

myFICO has two main products: ongoing credit reports and one-time credit reports. Here’s what is included with the service:

Ongoing Credit Reports

The ongoing credit reports will help you track your credit score monthly and also help protect your identity.

You receive instant access and monthly or quarterly updates to your FICO score and a three-bureau credit report. This is the most comprehensive look at your credit score than ever before.

The cost of ongoing credit reports and monitoring from myFico is between $19.95 and $39.95 per month depending on if you want credit scores from one or multiple credit bureaus each month.

This option is best for managing your finances over time, and you receive the following:

Credit Report and Regular Updates

myFICO gives you access to your 3-bureau credit report tool and lets you know where you stand with each major reporting bureau with a side-by-side comparison tool.

Anytime your report changes, any bureau will notify you within 24 hours via email, mobile app, or text message.

Qualifying Interest Rate Estimator

This tool will help you learn how to prepare your finances if you are planning to secure a mortgage.

Whether it’s your first mortgage or refinance, the higher your score the better. This helpful tool will show you what is need to improve your score to qualify at the lowest rate.

FICO Score 8 Simulator & Analysis

The FICO Score 8 simulator is another helpful tool that will show you the impact of different financial decisions on your credit score.

It will show situations like paying off debt, increasing your credit limits, applying for a new credit card or applying for an auto loan.

The FICO Score 8 analysis will also show you the top factors that affect your FICO Score.

They show how credit factors like:

• Length of credit history
• Payment history
• Debt to credit utilization ration
• Credit mix

And other factors that contribute to your score.

Identity Theft Solutions

myFICO will also help your financial security and offer additional identity theft insurance and restoration.

Overall, this is a complete way to monitor your credit reports with each bureau as well as your credit score. This is the best way to monitor and improve your credit over time.

But, depending on your situation, there is another helpful option in the single bureau report.

Single Bureau Report

For non-regular monitoring of your credit score, the one-time credit reports ensure you are prepared for any important upcoming transactions, like a mortgage or personal loan.

This service will help you prepare by understanding your FICO score, checking for credit report accuracy and preparing you for the upcoming loan process.

The cost of this service is $19.95 for one credit bureau or $59.85 for all three credit bureaus. However, you may be able to save some money by using Rakuten.

While it doesn’t have all of the features of the three bureau reports, it will give you access to your Experian credit report to monitor any future changes.

Both options also include the use of their top-rated mobile app.

How to Get Your Credit Score with myFico

Once you complete the signup information for your trial, you can log in and see your FICO credit score appear.

The summary page has a ton of useful information regarding your FICO credit score. The four main areas are payment history, amount of debt, length of credit history, and amount of new credit.

While most people think of payment history there are a ton of other factors when evaluating your FICO score. myFICO shows you what you need to do to improve your credit score as soon as possible.

How to Get Your Credit Score for Free

If you’re not up for paying to get your score from myFICO, there are two ways you can check your score for free.

1. Credit Karma

Credit Karma compiles data from TransUnion and offers a calculated credit score, credit monitoring, and account monitoring all for FREE.

Your score is calculated using VantageScore 3.0. The VantageScore was developed by the 3 major credit bureaus including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

The VantageScore 3.0 model uses a range between 300 and 850. A VantageScore above 660 is considered good, while a score above 780 is considered excellent.

2. Credit Sesame

Credit Sesame is very similar to Credit Karma. They also provide you free access to your estimated credit score, as well as tips to help you improve your credit score.

In addition, Credit Sesame also recommends financial products that they think might be a good fit for you, such as new credit cards for balance transfers, low interest rates, etc.

Credit Sesame can also help protect you against identity theft by monitoring your credit report for account openings, closings, and more.

Understanding Your Credit Report

While knowing your FICO score is important, Equifax also provides your full credit report as well. This tool will show you the past few years of payment history and any outstanding marks that are negatively impacting your credit score.

One example could include an outstanding bill that you had forgot to pay a few years ago. Collection items, regardless of amount, can play a significant impact on your score and even be the reason you can’t secure a loan.

Make sure to spend time understanding your credit reports and clear up any negative collection items as soon as possible.

MyFICO also provides a seven-page report and summary page to make it as easy as possible to understand your score.

What Else is Included with myFICO?

While the main features of myFICO are very helpful there are bonuses as well. They add identity theft protections of $1 million dollars, Lost Wallet Protection, and 24×7 Identity Restoration.

You also receive the FICO Score 8 Simulator and the Qualifying Interest Rate Estimator.

Who Should Use myFICO?

As you can see, myFICO has a ton of benefits to help better understand your credit score but isn’t for everyone. If you have excellent credit and aren’t planning on a new loan in the future it might not be the best fit.

But, if you do have excellent credit and are planning on a new loan soon this is a great option.

If you are in the poor-good credit score range, myFICO is a necessary tool to help you improve your score quickly.

The tool can also be very helpful if you are purchasing a house, car or need to know your credit scores with either product.

How to Cancel myFICO Services

If you need to cancel the service for any reason they make it very simple. MyFICO allows you submit a secure message from your account.

There is no need to email or call them separately. Make sure you cancel before the 10th day or you will start being billed monthly.

Summary

Your credit score is the most important factor for getting the lowest interest rates. If you want low APR on any future loans or credit card you need to monitor your score.

This three-digit number can help you secure loans at a fraction of the price of someone who hasn’t actively monitored their score over time. Don’t take this situation lightly as so many people do, it can make or break your financial future.

If you have been actively monitoring your score you might not need myFICO as much as someone who is in the poor – average credit score range. The average American credit score is 687, essentially right in the middle of the credit range.

Remember, the higher the score, the lower your interest rates moving forward. Try to shoot for very good to excellent to secure the lowest loans possible and save yourself tons in the process.

This is an amazing way to track your FICO score and make improvements over time. There are tons of reasons to sign up for myFICO today.

Unlike free credit monitoring services, myFICO is a division of FICO. You have the assurance that you are paying for a very reputable credit reporting service unlike many others out there.