Comments on: MyFICO ScoreWatch Review: Perfect for Credit Score Junkies!

By: amoss

amoss — Sun, 31 May 2009 08:25:11 +0000

I need to know if anyone can explain this one to me…..During the last year, I paid off $20k in cc debt (completed in Dec 2008), my boat and my car just recently…my outstanding debt is only 4% of my available credit (and I only use my Visa and AMEX but do have 2 more store cc) so that they don’t screw with my limits…but my FICO score is just about the same as it was two years ago? Can anyone explain this one? I pay all my bills prior to the due date and have a good relationship with my bank. I don’t have a mortgage either. In my opinion, the FICO group is not “FAIR” anymore. Can I force them to rescore me or am I better off leaving it alone?

By: Fatubus

Fatubus — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:37:02 +0000

I use Scorewatch and if I didn’t use it I would have been screwed. I had a $150 doctor bill from 2 years ago that was sent to collections. I was told by the doctor that they were handling it and they did alright, they sent it to collections. My score dropped from 790 to 674 overnight. I am about to refi my house and I’m sure you know what impact this “downgrade” of my credit would be. I called the CFO of the hospital whose brand is on the doctor’s office and after a couple of phone calls and a week, the collection was rescinded and my score went back to 788. I was able to get a 30 year with a point at 4 3/8. Without Scorewatch, I never would have thought that I had something so small on my credit report and it would have ended up costing me a lot more in interest payments on my refi.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:07:05 +0000

It probably did because “90 days same as cash” usually means you’ve been given a line of credit. If you applied for it then they pulled your credit and your score likely dropped a few points.

By: LEE

LEE — Wed, 13 May 2009 17:12:14 +0000

I recently applied for 90 days same as cash at a local tire store and then decided not to use it. My FICO score recently was 764. Is there any chance that this situation changed my FICO score?

By: Syvar

Syvar — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 01:19:11 +0000

I have to say that I’m on the bandwagon with Mr. ToughMoneyLove in that credit scores should be abolished. They are “supposed” to be a calculation of the “risk” of a company doing business with you. There were originally used for lending purposes only, but are now used for everything from loans, to employment to insurance. I.m.o., they are a terrible assessment of risk. For the hundreds of thousands whose scores were impacted by Capital One and others not posting credit limits to all of those who have recently had their credit lines sliced and diced by AMEX, the credit score is NOT a reflection of their ability to pay. I say abolish it and get back to dealing with smaller companies on a more personal and localized basis.

However, as long as there are credit scores, I’m also on the MyFico bandwagon. Of the few “real” credit score providers on the web, their support and service is outstanding and they do provide an excellent forum to learn more about credit scores and how they work.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:50:07 +0000

That’s pretty good! They do seem like a reasonable company to deal with, I’m glad you were able to sort it out.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:36:54 +0000

Jim, please repost to correct place if this is not the right place for this comment.
We subscribed to free 1-mos scorewatch trial after reading about it on your blog. Foolishly enough I forgot to cancel the trial despite reading your “how to cancel” post. We were subscribed for $89.50 trial, together costing $179. Couple days later I call myfico guys and tell them to cancel the service. They canceled it in a flash and refunded the entire amount. Excellent customer service is another good reason if someone is looking to subscribe to their products.

By: brother7

brother7 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 10:33:18 +0000

To Deby et al,

Scores bought from Costco’s Identity Guard service and just about every other service besides myFICO® is NOT a FICO® score. These non-FICO® scores are sometimes referred to as FAKO scores, ie fake FICO® scores, which use different formulas to generate a score. FICO® scores use a formula developed by Fair Isaac Corporation and are the most important because it’s the one used by lenders when making credit decisions.

Also note that everyone has THREE FICO® scores, one from each of the credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian). The scores from each CRA is different because they have different data in their files about you.

Finally, Experian has chosen not to make their FICO® scores available to the public. The only way to get your Experian FICO® is from a lender who pulls your score from them.

However, Equifax and TransUnion FICO® scores are available to the public for a price. I get mine from myFICO.com

Hope this info is helpful.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:58:32 +0000

Thanks Tanya!

By: Tanya

Tanya — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:40:38 +0000

MyFico is now offering 30% of purchases with the code myFICOis8.

By: Diane

Diane — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:45:38 +0000

You’re right – I found it this time. They’ve already changed the opening page and made me choose and now log-in name. I guess its in the process of changing over.

I don’t know of any other cards offering this, but I’d like to. I LOVED that feature because it was free. I just can’t make any card changes right now, because I need to stabilize things.

I opened a Best Buy acct to take advantage of 18 mos NO interest offer on a laptop for my high school son. That ONE thing dropped my score by 30 points this month – nothing else changed.

So no new accounts for me right now…

By: thomas

thomas — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:30:18 +0000

I enjoyed the credit program for Suze Orman a few years back. It really helped me turn my financial boat around and work towards getting my first home.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:15:27 +0000

I just logged in to check. Here’s what it shows on that page: “PLEASE NOTE: Free access to your FICO credit score will not be available after March 1.”

I’d love to know if there are any other cards that offer this? I won’t count myself as a junkie, but having it for free was pretty nice. I suppose I’ll replace this with a cashback card of some sort if not.

By: Cap

Cap — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:46:10 +0000

I just logged into wamucards.com right now and I still see it. I believe it’s not completely switched over until March.. but I could be wrong..

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:44:00 +0000

I do get my free credit reports once each year from each agency – and I space them so I get one every 4 months and monitor my reports.

I also pay for the credit score at that time, just to be sure since each agency computes it differently – $7.95 3x each year is worth the money to me.