Now more than ever, technology plays a leading role in our everyday lives, from time management to shopping to traveling to finance. Thanks to technology, you can pay bills, check your bank statement, review your credit card purchases, and track your budget — all from your phone!
And if you’re looking for ways to keep an eye on your credit score, well, there’s a smartphone app for that, too. Actually, there are several apps that allow you to keep tabs on your credit score. The best part? Many of them are free, and they offer lots of additional money-management tools.
Looking for technology to help you stay on top of your credit? We’ve made a list of eight great choices:
- Mint. This free service has been around for more than a decade and can help you create and maintain a budget, manage your debt, and set financial goals in addition to checking your Equifax credit score. Mint also offers practical tips on how you can improve your score and allows you to connect your credit cards as well as your bank and investment accounts. This multi-faceted approach to money management helps you assess your overall situation and be more successful, whatever your goals may be.
- Credit Karma. This app, which is also free, debuted around the same time as Mint. The major difference? While Mint is more budget-focused, Credit Karma is focused solely on credit. You can use Credit Karma to get details your credit utilization rate, the age of your credit accounts, and other factors that contribute to your score. It also offers advice about how and where you can make positive changes to bump up your score, along with a list ways you can avoid bringing it down. In addition to credit scores and tips, it offers helpful extras like a credit dispute tool and a credit approval estimator.
- Credit.com. This free app works on a grading system, A to F, using several factors, including how much of your allotted debt you use, how many credit inquiries you have, how varied your accounts are, how you manage your payments, and how old your accounts are. What’s neat about this app is the ease with which you can identify credit score mistakes you’ve made and ways to avoid them in the future.
- Credit Sesame. With this app, users can choose a free membership that provides a monthly credit score update and credit monitoring, or opt for one of several paid “premium” memberships that provide additional services like 24/7 live support, additional identity theft monitoring, and more frequent credit reports. You can compare the different plans here.
- CreditWise. This free credit-tracking service is offered through Capital One, but you don’t need to be a customer to use it. This service is unique because it provides a weekly credit score via TransUnion, which is more frequent than the recommended monthly check. You’ll also have access to the app’s credit simulator tool, which lets you test out ways to improve your score.
- Discover Credit Scorecard. This service is similar to CreditWise in that it’s aligned with a credit card company, but you needn’t be a Discover Card customer to take advantage. With this service, you’ll have access to your monthly FICO Score from TransUnion. Because credit card providers commonly use this score when deciding whether or not to extend a new line of credit, this might be a smart option if you’re planning to apply for another credit card or a home or car loan.
- Experian and TransUnion. You’ve probably noticed that many of the apps use the Experian and TransUnion scores. It might make sense for some users to go directly to those sources. Both reporting agencies offer free credit monitoring apps, plus paid memberships with additional services like ID theft protection and credit monitoring.
- myFICO.com. The FICO credit score is the one most commonly used and the one you’ve most likely heard of. The basic FICO service, which reports from only one of the three major credit bureaus, is $19.95 per month. With this, you’ll also have access to monthly score updates.
With so many options, it may be well worth your time to check out the variety of credit-tracking apps, particularly if you’re clueless about your credit score health or are gearing up to apply for a mortgage. Another thing to remember: The team at DebtGuru.com is always available to answer your questions about finances, money, and budgeting.