Editorial Note: IntuitCredit Karma receives compensation from third-party advertisers, but that doesn’t affect our editors’ opinions. Our third-party advertisers don’t review, approve or endorse our editorial content. It’s accurate to the best of our knowledge when posted.
Advertiser Disclosure
We think it's important for you to understand how we make money. It's pretty simple, actually. The offers for financial products you see on our platform come from companies who pay us. The money we make helps us give you access to free credit scores and reports and helps us create our other great tools and educational materials.
Compensation may factor into how and where products appear on our platform (and in what order). But since we generally make money when you find an offer you like and get, we try to show you offers we think are a good match for you. That's why we provide features like your Approval Odds and savings estimates.
Of course, the offers on our platform don't represent all financial products out there, but our goal is to show you as many great options as we can.
Once people see that Credit Karma offers access to your credit scores for free, they usually follow up with questions like, “Is Credit Karma accurate?” or “What’s the catch?”
Whether it’s your first time visiting Credit Karma or you’ve been a member for years, you might want some more insight into where Credit Karma gets your credit scores and why you should trust a company that claims to offer something for free.
Here’s the short answer: The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma come directly from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major consumer credit bureaus. The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus.
This means a couple of things:
The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating. This, by the way, is one of the reasons why we ask for your Social Security number and other personal information in order to create a Credit Karma account — so that we can match you up to what the bureaus have on file for you.
Credit Karma isn’t a credit bureau or a credit-reporting agency. We don’t gather information from creditors, and creditors don’t report information directly to Credit Karma.
Understandably, you may still have some questions about how Credit Karma gets your credit scores and why your scores from Credit Karma might look different from scores you got somewhere else.
We’ll dig into some of those questions below. We’ll also explain how Credit Karma can offer free credit reports from TransUnion and Equifax along with your free credit scores from each of those credit bureaus.
How’s your credit?Check My Equifax® and TransUnion® Scores Now
What’s a credit score?
Why are my credit scores from Credit Karma different from others?
Does Credit Karma offer free FICO® scores?
What should I do if I see incorrect information on Credit Karma?
What’s a credit score?
There are few numbers in life that matter as much to your financial well-being as your credit scores.
Each of your credit scores is a three-digit number that relates to how likely you are to repay debt. These numbers can go a long way in determining whether a lender will approve you for a credit card or loan.
We say “each of your credit scores” because you actually have more than one. The three major consumer credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — create credit reports that contain important information about your credit accounts and financial profile.
Credit-scoring models created by companies like VantageScore Solutions and Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) use the information from your credit reports to calculate your credit scores. Different credit-scoring models may weigh the information in your credit reports differently, but high-impact factors generally include credit card utilization, your payment history and any derogatory marks on your credit reports.
Interested in seeing what’s on your credit reports?
Why are my credit scores from Credit Karma different from scores I got somewhere else?
We pull your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores directly from TransUnion and Equifax. There are a few reasons why you might get different credit scores from each of the three major credit bureaus.
One big reason why you may have different scores is that the three credit bureaus may have differing information about you.
Errors on credit reports are not unheard-of, and even if one bureau has your information completely correct, there’s no certainty that the other two bureaus will as well.
To offer some helpful context: Through Credit Karma’s Direct Dispute™ tool, more than $10.2 billion in erroneous debt has been removed from TransUnion credit reports since 2015. And that’s only one credit bureau.
2. Not all lenders report to all three major credit bureaus
Some lenders may only report to one or two bureaus, not all three. Also, the bureaus may not update your reports at the same time. Different information can understandably result in different credit reports and credit scores.
3. Different credit-scoring models can yield different results
Lastly, credit scores are calculated using different scoring models. Because each scoring model can emphasize different aspects of your credit history, you can get different scores even if they’re based on the same credit reports.
How’s your credit?Check My Equifax® and TransUnion® Scores Now
Does Credit Karma offer free FICO® scores?
You may have read reviews that say the credit scores you see on Credit Karma are useless because they’re not FICO® scores. Though Credit Karma does not currently offer FICO® scores, the scores you see on Credit Karma (VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax) provide valuable insight into your financial health.
It’s important to keep in mind that no one credit score is the end-all, be-all. There are dozens of different FICO® scoring models alone. Even if you’re confident in a specific FICO® score, it may not necessarily match the scores a lender pulls when you apply for a loan.
At Credit Karma, we believe that because you can have so many different scores, the exact number you get at a given time isn’t of foremost importance. What’s more important are the changes you observe over time in a single score, and where that number puts you in relation to other consumers.
By using Credit Karma to monitor your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from Equifax and TransUnion over time, you can have an easy point of reference to gauge your overall credit health.
What should I do if I see incorrect information on Credit Karma?
If you think Credit Karma is showing you incorrect information, it’s usually for one of three reasons:
1. Your creditors have not reported up-to-date information to the bureaus
Creditors typically report your updated account data to the credit bureaus once a month, so seeing old balances, payment activity and credit utilization rates is pretty common. Unfortunately, it’s usually something you’ll just need to wait out until the information gets updated.
2. There’s inaccurate or outdated information on credit report(s)
If the incorrect account information is more than a month old, this could indicate that your credit report contains inaccurate or outdated information about your credit history.
In this case, we recommend viewing the full credit report in question, reviewing it carefully, and disputing any errors you see directly with the credit bureau.
3. TransUnion and Equifax may be slow to update your report(s)
Even if you’ve successfully disputed an error, it may take a while for TransUnion and Equifax to update your reports.
On Credit Karma, you can see when your reports were last updated. You can also see when the next update will be.
Next steps
Part of the reason why we created Credit Karma is to facilitate credit history transparency for our members. If you see incorrect information about your credit profile on our site, this could clue you in to a bigger issue.
We recommend disputing any errors you find, as some inaccuracies may be unnecessarily hurting your scores. Then, come back to Credit Karma frequently to see how your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax can change over time.
How’s your credit?Check My Equifax® and TransUnion® Scores Now
Some lenders report to all three major credit bureaus, but others report to only one or two. Because of this difference in reporting, each of the three credit bureaus may have slightly different credit report information for you and you may see different scores as a result.
Some lenders report to all three major credit bureaus, but others report to only one or two. Because of this difference in reporting, each of the three credit bureaus may have slightly different credit report information for you and you may see different scores as a result.
Well, the credit score and report information on Credit Karma is accurate, as two of the three credit agencies are reporting it. Equifax and TransUnion are the ones giving the reports and scores. Credit Karma also offers VantageScores, but they are separate from the other two credit bureaus.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus. This means a couple of things: The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating.
Credit Karma uses a different scoring system than the one mortgage lenders use. There are two main scoring systems: FICO – it was created in the 1950s and is used by mortgage lenders. VantageScore – it began in 2006 and is what Credit Karma uses.
The slight differences in calculations between VantageScore and FICO credit scores can lead to significant variations in scores, making Credit Karma less accurate than most may appreciate.
This is mainly because of two reasons: For one, lenders may pull your credit from different credit bureaus, whether it is Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. Your score can then differ based on what bureau your credit report is pulled from since they don't all receive the same information about your credit accounts.
Credit Karma compiles its own accurate VantageScore based on that information. Your Credit Karma score should be the same or close to your FICO score, which is what any prospective lender will probably check.
Experian vs. Credit Karma: Which is more accurate for your credit scores? You may be surprised to know that the simple answer is that both are accurate. Read on to find out what's different between the two companies, how they get your credit scores, and why you have more than one credit score to begin with.
Generally, Credit Karma is the overall best site in terms of getting free credit scores and free credit reports. It provides free weekly scores and reports from Transunion and Equifax that are available without having to provide your credit card first.
It's recommended you have a credit score of 620 or higher when you apply for a conventional loan. If your score is below 620, lenders either won't be able to approve your loan or may be required to offer you a higher interest rate, which can result in higher monthly payments.
Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma doesn't hurt your credit. These credit score checks are known as soft inquiries, which don't affect your credit at all. Hard inquiries (also known as “hard pulls”) generally happen when a lender checks your credit while reviewing your application for a financial product.
Credit scores can drop due to a variety of reasons, including late or missed payments, changes to your credit utilization rate, a change in your credit mix, closing older accounts (which may shorten your length of credit history overall), or applying for new credit accounts.
Services such as CreditWise pull from all relevant major credit bureaus whereas Credit Karma pulls from fewer, thus resulting in the potential for less precise credit score reporting.
Is "credit score" the same as "FICO® score"? Basically, "credit score" and "FICO® score" are all referring to the same thing. A FICO® score is a type of credit scoring model. While different reporting agencies may weigh factors slightly differently, they are all essentially measuring the same thing.
Credit card companies, for example, usually report by a recurring date known as the billing cycle or statement date. But the exact day of the month may be different for each provider. In short, there's no set day that all lenders deliver information to the CRAs.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
Two popular credit-scoring companies are FICO and VantageScore. Originally named Fair Isaac Corporation, FICO developed the modern credit-scoring model in 1989. To this day, its scores are some of the most widely used credit scores. FICO claims its scores are used by 90% of top lenders.
No credit score from any one of the credit bureaus is more valuable or more accurate than another. It's possible that a lender may gravitate toward one score over another, but that doesn't necessarily mean that score is better.
Credit Karma provides VantageScore® 3.0 credit scores from TransUnion and Equifax, while some credit card issuers or banks may offer access to your FICO® scores from specific bureaus. So be sure to check which scoring model is being used and which credit reports your scores are based on.
And if you have multiple debt collections on your credit report, paying off a single collections account may not significantly raise your credit scores. But if you have a recent debt collection and it's the only negative item on your credit report, paying it off could have a positive effect on your score.
Experian's advantage over FICO is that the information it provides is far more detailed and thorough than a simple number. A pair of borrowers could both have 700 FICO Scores but vastly different credit histories.
When the scores are significantly different across bureaus, it is likely the underlying data in the credit bureaus is different and thus driving that observed score difference.
The FICO Bankcard Score 8 is a FICO® Score that's created specifically for credit card issuers to help them understand the likelihood that a borrower will be 90 or more days late on a credit card payment in the next 24 months.
The credit-building journey is different for each person, but prudent money management can get you from a 500 credit score to 700 within 6-18 months. It can take multiple years to go from a 500 credit score to an excellent score, but most loans become available before you reach a 700 credit score.
Generally speaking, you'll need a credit score of at least 620 in order to secure a loan to buy a house. That's the minimum credit score requirement most lenders have for a conventional loan. With that said, it's still possible to get a loan with a lower credit score, including a score in the 500s.
While credit score requirements vary based on loan type, mortgage lenders generally require a 620 credit score to buy a house with a conventional mortgage.
This is because individual consumer reporting agencies, credit scoring companies, lenders and creditors may use slightly different formulas to calculate your credit scores. They might also weigh your information differently depending on the type of credit account for which you've applied.
It's generally recommended that you have two to three credit card accounts at a time, in addition to other types of credit. Remember that your total available credit and your debt to credit ratio can impact your credit scores. If you have more than three credit cards, it may be hard to keep track of monthly payments.
Your Credit Karma score should be the same or close to your FICO score, which is what any prospective lender will probably check. The range of your credit score (such as "good" or "very good") is more important than the precise number, which will vary by source and edge up or down often.
Additionally, FICO® Scores are based on credit report data from a particular consumer reporting agency, so differences in your credit reports between credit reporting agencies may create differences in your FICO® Scores.
When the scores are significantly different across bureaus, it is likely the underlying data in the credit bureaus is different and thus driving that observed score difference.
Introduction: My name is Saturnina Altenwerth DVM, I am a witty, perfect, combative, beautiful, determined, fancy, determined person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
