It takes a lot of commitment to maintain a decent credit score. There’s a lot to keep up with: we need to pay our bills on time, reduce debt, and, among other requirements, maintain a low debt-to-credit ratio, all to guarantee a top-notch credit score.
It’s possible to improve your credit score, no matter how bad or poor it is. There’s no excuse for you to aware of what your credit score is and what you can do to have decent credit. However, the first and foremost step is to know and monitor your own credit. Over at Budgetable they’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Below are some handy apps to help you monitor your credit in the palm of your hand.
1) Credit Karma
Credit Karma is probably the best-known service to get free credit score updates from the Equifax and TransUnion credit bureaus. Its Android and iOS apps alert you to any major changes to your credit report. If you see any fallacy, you can file a dispute directly within the Credit Karma app. You can also see a well-organized summary of how your credit score breaks down and looks at all the reported accounts and factored into your score.
2) Experian
It is one of the top three credit bureaus offering credit reports and also has a free application. The Experian app monitors changes to your Experian credit profile and informs you of changes.
You will have the option to use push notifications on your phone whenever changes are made to your credit score. This allows you to take note of the changes and progress. Every 30 days, your free Experiancredit report is updated.
3) CreditWise
This application from Capital One is accessible to all, not just the banking customers of the firm. It offers a weekly update of your TransUnion VantageScore 3.0 (as opposed to FICO) credit score. It includes some best features, such as a credit simulator, which shows how acts such as paying off debt could impact your score. You will also get personalized suggestions for improving your score, along with industry-standard alerts for any significant changes.
4) Mint
It is the best personal finance apps on the market today; Mint is a clear choice for an app to track your credit score and remain on top of your finances.
The process of getting your credit score from Mint is easy and does not require any kind of credit card. You just need to validate your identity, and Mint will give you a complete description of your credit report and score instantly.
Not only does Mint break down the fundamentals of your credit score, but they’re giving tips about how to improve it, as well as how to consider what’s impacting your score. More than that, they offer advice on credit cards that you can get approved for, and how they can benefit or lower your score.
For a free finance app that sends you credit score updates and account monitoring alerts, plus customized suggestions on how to evaluate your credit score, Mint remains one of the top financial apps.
5) myFICO
The most widely used app to figure out your creditworthiness is myFICO. If you have a myFICO subscription to monitor your score and get reports (starting at $30 per month), this free finance app is a must-have. It shows you your latest FICO score through all three credit bureaus and shows how they have fluctuated over time. The app delivers push notifications when major changes occur in your reports, such as a new query or an increase/decrease in your score.
6) Credit Sesame
Credit Sesame offers a free look at your credit score utilizing the VantageScore model. You also get a credit report card with letter grades for payment history, credit use, and credit age. You’ll get the usual alerts for account-change, too. Based on your present score and account information, the My Borrowing Power feature projects how much credit you can access. This app also recommends credit cards, mortgage rates, and options for refinancing.
7) Credit.com
The Credit.com is another app to keep track of your credit using the Experian score. The app is free and user-friendly. When an account is created, you will get a rating from Credit.com that ranges from A+ (being the best) to F (being the worst).
The app takes many considerations, including payment history, combining accounts, debt, and credit age. The app analyses your data and then measures your total credit score and your Credit.com rating. It has features like visual aids to show you how the credit score has been calculated and how it can be improved or changed. It also helps users to see their credit errors and learn how to correct them finally.
8) TransUnion
The credit reporting bureau enables you to monitor your TransUnion credit report from your mobile device. The TransUnion credit score is very much like FICO’s credit ratings and ranges between 300 and 850. But it is critical to note that the TransUnion credit score is different from the FICO score, and the two should not be confused.
You Really Don’t Have Anything to Lose.
A credit score signifies your creditworthiness to lenders like mortgage lenders and banks. It signifies how accountable you’re going to be when it comes to paying off your debts or balances. Credit score monitoring apps covered here are all great. What’s so cool about the credit monitoring application is that you can review them on the go. Most of them can be downloaded on Android from Google Play Store or iPhone from the Apple App Store.
Many people fear that monitoring their credit scores through apps or services negatively impact those scores. The reality is – checking your own credit is generally considered a soft inquiry. What it implies is that it doesn’t demand a hard pull of your credit report.
Hard pull or also called hard inquires generally happens when applying for a new credit card, a mortgage, or load. Soft pulls, on the other hand, occur when checking your own credit.
In any scenario, you can have peace of mind knowing that using any of the above-mentioned apps won’t negatively impact your credit score.
