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Credit Karma has over 60 million members. Not bad for a service that provided its first free credit score in 2008! The site is successful primarily because joining is completely free.
Members receive 2 free credit scores, weekly reports, and ongoing credit monitoring as well as necessary tools to make educated decisions about their credit. Not to mention that their app is also free.
Here’s an examination of the different features of their site while answering the most common questions about its services.
By the time you reach the end, you will have a clear idea of whether joining this online service can help you manage your personal finances.
So, what’s the big deal with checking your credit score anyway? Is it really necessary? The answer is yes.
Your credit score is created based on the information in your credit report. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for credit reports to contain errors — sometimes major errors — resulting in low credit scores.
Sometimes this is due to clerical errors, but identity theft can often be the cause.
Regardless of the reason, if your credit report contains inaccuracies, it’s imperative that you deal with them quickly. Ignoring them won’t make them go away!
With a poor credit score, you may not be approved for a mortgage, loan, or credit card. It can even be difficult to rent an apartment or get a job.
If you do get approved for a loan or credit card with poor credit, it will likely be at a high interest rate, which will result in you paying tons of extra money because of that high interest. This isn’t always the case, though — you can read more about credit cards for bad credit.
Plus, because your credit score can change based on a long list of factors, it’s important to not only check your credit score but monitor your credit on a regular basis.
CreditKarma.com is one site that makes that possible.
Credit Karma offers a wide variety of features and tools to its members. Let’s take a look at each one to see how they can help you stay on top of your credit situation.
CreditKarma.com analyzes more than 5,000,000 credit cards each month to learn about the average cardholder. Members can view these insights, as well as other member reviews of credit cards and lenders.
As a member, you will receive matches to the best credit card offers based on your profile. You can add your own reviews, compare credit card terms, or apply for a credit card. You can even search the site for business credit cards.
Want to consolidate or refinance your debts? Perhaps you need a loan to pay for a new expense? Whatever the reason, applying for personal loans can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to know where to start.
CreditKarma.com aims to simplify the process by giving you a list of personal loans to consider based on your credit score. You’ll see a snapshot of each option, including the estimated loan amount, APR, and terms based on your input.
Also, when you take advantage of personal loan services, you can peruse unbiased reviews by members who have already worked with these lenders.
Hot Tip: Loans are affected by your credit score, so it’s helpful to work toward raising your score! You can try applying for some basic cards like the Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express, or the Chase Freedom Unlimited® to start building it now.
Buying a car or refinancing an existing car loan is a major financial decision. Your credit score plays a big role in whether you will qualify, which lenders will work with you, and how big a down payment you’ll need.
CreditKarma.com will list the lenders that only accept great credit as well as those that accept less-than-stellar credit to help narrow down your options.
Just like with personal loans, they will match you with offers you have a better chance of qualifying for. Then you can read reviews by members who have loans with those lenders.
When you post a question on the forum, it can be answered by anyone in the community, which includes average consumers as well as respected financial professionals.
Depending on the question, you may get an answer from someone who works in an auto finance department, consumer loan department, or someone who has been in the same situation you are in.
Chances are, your question was previously addressed, and you can locate it by entering keywords in the search box.
Members of the community are encouraged to provide a thumbs up or thumbs down to questions and answers. The site keeps track of how many people were helped by each question, too.
Under the Resources tab, you will find articles written by financial professionals as well as “Your Weekly Money Scoop,” a roundup of articles from sites such as the New York Times, Forbes, and Huffington Post.
These articles cover credit and other financial concepts to give you a better understanding.
Hot Tip: At Upgraded Points, we also provide credit card reviews, articles on building credit, and other finance articles. However, we focus on keeping you traveling, including how to earn as many points as possible and redeem those points for maximum value!
The Credit Karma blog is divided into the following sections: Karma Culture, Company News, Industry News, Engineering, and Pressroom. It includes general posts about credit as well as information about the company.
Home and auto insurance scores estimate your risk based on factors such as:
Many states use these scores to predict how likely you are to file a claim and set premiums based on the result (although it is prohibited in some states).
Both scores are included with your free membership.
In 2006, the 3 major credit reporting agencies (TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian) developed a joint algorithm to calculate a consumer’s VantageScore. Because each credit bureau calculates your VantageScore, you have 3 total.
You’ll get 2 VantageScores: 1 from TransUnion and the other from Equifax.
An increasing number of credit decisions are being made with the current version, Vantage 3.0. According to CreditKarma.com, Vantage 3.0 was used more than 8 billion times from July 2015 to June 2016.
Because the numbers are updated daily, you can check your credit score every day on their site. It’s a great way to track your score, so you’ll know right away if it goes up or down and whether you may need help with your personal finances.
| Credit Rating | Score Range |
| Exceptional | 800-850 |
| Very Good | 700-739 |
| Fair | 580-699 |
| Very Poor | 300-579 |
Source: Experian
Most people are familiar with FICO scores (from the Fair Isaac Corp.) — the industry standard that lenders used to approve and deny new credit applications, make pre-screened offers, and manage existing accounts. However, VantageScore credit scores are becoming more common.
FICO scores are based on 5 factors:
Each credit reporting agency calculates a FICO score, just like with VantageScores.
You may have heard the term “fako score.” It refers to any score that is not a FICO score. One example is a TransRisk score.
TransRisk scores are based solely on data in TransUnion credit reports. Like FICO scores, the range is 300-850. But FICO and TransRisk scores can vary by as many as 125 points.
Lenders do not use TransRisk scores anywhere near as often as FICO and VantageScores.
When you apply for a loan, the lender pulls a full credit report, including your accounts, credit inquiries, public records, and collection activity. The lender also does a credit profile check to determine the types of credit you have, how long your accounts have been open, and whether you pay your bills on time.
In addition to credit scores, members get access to their full TransUnion and Equifax credit reports, updated on a weekly basis, including highlighted sections to review.
Check your credit reports for free each week to identify discrepancies and fix them as soon as possible.
Memberships also come with free credit monitoring. You’ll receive credit alerts if there is an important change to your TransUnion credit report to help you spot identity theft.
Just a quick note: you may find that your free credit reports don’t always match. This can happen because you pulled them at different times, or a certain lender didn’t report to both bureaus; sometimes it may just be an error.
One of the most beneficial tools for your personal finances they offer is the credit score simulator, which shows how your actions affect your credit score.
For instance, what if you:
Discover what happens to your credit score when you take these or other actions by choosing from options provided by the simulator.
There are 4 calculators to help you learn about loans.
Just a warning: they take your credit score and credit history into account, so these are only estimations. But they can definitely give you an idea of what to expect.
| Calculate | Information to Enter | Results |
| Home Affordability |
| Maximum house price you can afford and monthly payment |
| Debt Repayment |
| Monthly payment to repay the loan in a specific time frame, or how long it will take to repay debt |
| Simple Loan |
| Estimated monthly payment |
| Amortization |
| Breakdown of each payment into interest and principal |
Joining is simple:
Then you will have access to free credit scores and reports from your dashboard.
From your dashboard, you can connect online financial accounts to track your spending and figure out where your money is really going. You can also set email alerts to remind you when bills are due.
The top concern addressed in reviews is whether the site is legit or a scam.
The truth is, it really is free and there is no credit card or other payment required to join. You don’t have to sign up for a paid credit card monitoring service.
CreditKarma.com is able to operate this model because it makes money through its advertising partners. You know those personalized credit card offers and loan recommendations we mentioned earlier? When you sign up for them (and you are under no obligation to do so), they earn money from these advertisers.
Many people also wonder how safe Credit Karma really is. After all, is it actually possible to get a totally free credit report online and be safe at the same time?
The best way to answer is to tell you about all the safeguards they have in place to protect you and your information:
You may have heard Credit Karma reached a settlement in 2014 with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations they misrepresented the security of their mobile app and failed to keep customer information private.
Apparently, they disabled SSL certificate validation, putting customers’ private info at risk. As a result, they have to submit to independent security assessments every other year through 2034.
Of course, it’s always important to safeguard your private information, especially when it comes to phishing scams. Don’t click on unsolicited links and attachments and never give your credit card information.
Who doesn’t want to earn as many points as possible in order to enjoy travel (and non-travel) rewards? At Upgraded Points, we proudly give you the tools, strategies, and information to earn points.
So how does a personal finance website fit into this?
Well, every person’s credit situation is different. The more information you have about your individual situation, the better you can manage your financial life.
By tracking your free credit score and credit reports through their free tools and services, you can pick up errors before they impact your creditworthiness.
Plus, by using the credit simulator, you can identify how the decisions you make about which cards to apply for, pay off, etc., will affect your credit history… before you make them!
Hot Tip: Check out our Express Guide for earning points to help you quickly get started on your journey while safely beginning to build your credit!
Credit Karma offers an easy to use interface, with valuable tools to manage your credit — and it’s totally free.
When you use their services in conjunction with UpgradedPoints.com, you’ll be able to make informed decisions, since you’ll already know the potential impact they will have on your credit.
The information regarding the Chase Freedom Unlimited® was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday® from American Express, click here.
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Boasting a portfolio of over 20 cards, Jarrod has been an expert in the points and miles space for over 6 years. He earns and redeems over 1 million points per year and his work has been featured in outlets like The New York Times.
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20 comments
Carol
September 11, 2018
1. Credit Karma’s score they show you has never been even close to what I get when I get the report from the source, TU, Experian, Equifax. You are receiving incorrect information each time they send you an update. So, as you are stating, Credit Karma does NOT make it possible.
2. They provide reports ONCE a month, not weekly.
3. Credit Karma has all those credit card and loan opportunities because that is where they make their money.
4. Even if you delete your account, they keep ALL your information; SS#, address, rating info, telephone, etc.
Big mistake joining Credit Karma!
Anna
September 20, 2018
Stay away from CreditKarma! They are always way off! 20+ points lower then I really was! They just want to make $ buy selling loans. Get your free credit report annually from the big 3 but do 1 every 4 months so you have a reliable FICO throughout the year!
Goodluck everyone!!
ANNA
ernie1241
October 27, 2019
Credit Karma (CK) uses what they call “Vantage” as a scoring system. However, CK is a fraudulent company which never corrects anything. You could pay ALL your bills on-time and in-full for decade-after-decade and it makes absolutely no difference.
Anna
September 20, 2018
This is not a FICO score it’s not as accurate and it was actually off by 20 points (lower then my actual!) which made me wait to bring up my credit score! In the meantime the interest rate went up .525% because credit karma was off by 22 points! It’s not as good as it seems and it takes forever to dispute something. I would get your free annual credit report from Trans Union and then four months later get Equifax and four months later get Experian. This way you get a free credit report throughout the year from each reliable FICO credit score companies. Credit Karma is not that good and it ruined my chance at a great mortgage rate! I think they’re great place to look for credit cards and loans. Not mortgages or refinancing just personal loans and credit cards.
Laurie
February 24, 2020
The loan companies I’ve dealt with always use fico, never vantage. My experian score is 80 points higher than the two on credit karma. Experian is the company used most often in my experience. The information on credit karma did not help me at all. You can get the experian app and get that score for free, along with other information. It is more accurate.
Sarahkate
November 17, 2018
SCAM. Here’s why: they will REDUCE the score they give you (which is not the FICO score which everyone figured out early on) by at least 10-20 points even if the only charge you have on your credit card is .5 percent (yes – one half of one percent) of the credit limit and even when you pay what you charged on your credit card within three business days of having made the charge. I ran an experiment by charging .4 percent on my zero balance/average limit Visa card and paid it off in three days of the charge so not only not “late” but so far ahead of their game that it should not have shown up at all. On my other card I carry a small credit balance all the time as I don’t often use the card but I want to get monthly paper statements to review and scan (and I never ever EVER do any financial banking online – ever) and this is a good way to keep the paper statements coming. Great for proof if you ever need it and credit card companies are so scandal ridden that it is good to have solid proof of what happens on your account directly from that company. So – my little “experiment” elicited a “WHAT HAPPENED” email from Credit Karma and a reduction of 19 points in the score they assigned me. AND they still showed the so-called “debt” a month after it had been paid. SCAM SCAM SCAM. Moreover your emails will be answered by poorly designed ‘bots – not by a real person. Definitely user beware! I deeply regret ever giving my personal information to Credit Karma and feel strongly they should be shut down. I hope their “business” fails spectacularly!!!
Therese Bertuccio
December 27, 2018
Credit Karma is a scam. They are getting their money from kick backs off of credit cards that charge high percentage APRs. The reason Credit Karma continues to tell people they have low scores. I have done all of the things that people are told to do to raise your score. I have ordered new credit, used it then paid off quickly, oh, too quickly? Okay, then run up credit and paid it back over long term paying out of course the interests on these cards. But as I pay these off my scores keep pummeling 40 points and when I click “what changed” it shows a $1200 decrease in overall payments or percentage of credit used, but a new card showed up with a balance on it of 200. Really? If the Big 3 or even Credit Karma has more than a non interested neutral scoring formula or algorithm, it should be consistent, but it doesn’t because that’s not the point. Then you have to actually write them and send your request to end the relationship and get off of credit karma. By the way, let me add my payment history is 100%. As far as I’m concerned, that is the only thing the big 3 ever should be concerned with, otherwise it shows an industry that has created very long arms of jurisdiction over people, and that means they have become useless in the real world. They need to go. There is no reason to set a premise for predatory credit cards other than to scam people. In the old days, you started out like everyone with a low interest card, then only if you deserved it, the interest charges went up- now its the other way around. Get rid of your high interest cards, get rid of credit karma.
ernie1241
October 27, 2019
You are correct. CK is a SCAM. Your actual credit history is totally irrelevant to CK. In other words, you can pay ALL your bills on-time and in-full for 30, 40, or 50 years and CK will STILL score you as having “POOR” credit — and they use the phony excuse of the percentage of credit line being used.
Here is what I sent to Credit Karma today, Everyone should understand this:
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO POST in BIG BOLD RED FONT on your website’s homepage.
1. Someone who pays ALL their bills on-time and in-full for over THIRTY YEARS will receive a “POOR” credit score on Credit Karma
2. This “POOR” score will NEVER improve AND will be the case EVEN IF the person being scored has had 30 or more credit card accounts during that three+ decades AND EVEN IF the person has:
(a) paid off the entire balances owed on many of those 30+ credit cards and then cancelled the cards
(b) had numerous balances exceeding $1000 which were paid off in their entirety (and on time)
(c) received numerous credit line increases from those very same banks or other financial institutions over the period when the customer had those cards because of their excellent credit history
(d) received many PRE-APPROVED new credit card offers, precisely because of the customer’s exceptionally GOOD credit card history AND
(e) has NEVER had ANY adverse information posted on their accounts
[there could be one very minor and insignificant exception—i.e. when a credit line was temporarily exceeded but NOT because of any purchase made; instead, because the credit card issuer levied their annual fee which pushed the total balance over the credit line amount and even that over-limit balance was never more than $10-$15]
ONLY IF YOU POST THE ABOVE INFORMATION VERBATIM ON YOUR WEBSITE WILL YOU HAVE ANY CREDIBILITY OR CLAIM TO INTEGRITY. OTHERWISE, YOU ARE A FRAUDULENT AND DISHONEST COMPANY.
Jarrod West
October 27, 2019
Hi Ernie,
Please be advised that we are not, and have no affiliation with Credit Karma. We are Upgraded Points, an educational travel website that teaches readers how to make strategic use of their credit card points and airline miles.
John Cottle
March 03, 2019
Credit Karma is indeed nothing but a scam. You are not being provided with FICO scores, but merely Vantage scores which vary by wide standards depending on the “formula” being used to determine your credit worthiness.
The key is that they use factors to place your credit profile into a higher-risk category that they then pair with commensurate interest rates of their so-called “partners.” They are hopeful that as subscribers, you will utilize their vantage scores being reported to you and select from one of their partner lenders who entice you with statements by Credit Karma as “Excellent Odds of Approval” or “Good Odds of Approval.” These claims may be true alright, because if you closely examine the interest rate profile, it will place you in the range of high-risk credit worthiness with rates ranging from 18% to 29.99%.
Credit Karma makes their money by how many subscribers they can steer to such lenders using such scenarios when in fact if you’ll check with your local bank or credit union, you’ll find that your actual credit profile is likely much higher than being reported to you by Credit Karma.
Credit Karma will also provide you all sorts of online financial tools to make you believe that they are there to help you. Nothing could be further from the truth and you should always go directly to the credit reporting agencies to determine your actual credit worthiness.
As for Ms. Jennifer Koebele, you can bet your bottom credit dollar that she is handsomely compensated for her apparent support of Credit Karma and how “good” it is for you to use their online source to manage your credit. Shame on you, Ms. Koebele. I went to Credit Karma and signed on to determine the facts and it should interest readers to know that I had access to my actual FICO scores, even my auto FICO which is difficult at the very least to obtain. I was also provided with a credit worthiness profile. I matched this information against Credit Karma and in the case of Equifax, my score was more than 55 points different using the formula Credit Karma posts that is being utilized to make their determination.
If you want an honest assessment of your credit profile, never seek an online company claiming to want to help you. They are online to make money and lots of it. They do so in this instance by depressing your score profile, increasing your risk assessment and then attempt to pair you with their “Partner” credit cards or personal loans that will, excuse the phrase, screw the living hell out of you with interest rates far above what your actual credit is likely to support.
Do your research thoroughly and indeed, if you have actual credit problems work with your respective lenders and the credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian or Equifax to negotiate a plan to resolve the credit problem and entry. Do not ever attempt to use credit repair companies, who cannot actually help you “erase bad credit” or fix anything. The only method they employ is to seek out very old and dated credit entries that have been sold several times over to third party collection agencies. The law requires that these collection agencies must have the original debt agreement with your signature in order to pursue the matter. Otherwise, they can do nothing but attempt to threaten you. Under the law, third party collection agencies may not report you to the credit reporting agencies as well, nor file judgements. In fact, there is little of nothing that these companies can do but hope to bluff you into paying something or all debt owed on delinquent accounts. You are allowed under the law to write a cease and desist letter that subsequently limits them to contact through the U.S. postal system. It’s well-advised to send such letters via certified mail, return receipt requested.
Finally, never hope for magic when it comes to your credit profile and scores. No company, Credit Karma included, is there more for you than they are for themselves. If you have credit problems, correct them through proper channels and do not be lured into obtaining credit that by law, can presently charge interest rates just below 30%, which may get you some small portion of cash or credit, but absolutely ruin your ability to ever catch up and become debt resilient. It can actually take nearly your lifetime to pay off this kind of credit or loan, so think carefully about a second job to help resolve the matter rather than more of a very bad decision to increase your debt load.
This is what Ms. Koebele should have been telling you but I suppose everything is for sale at a price as they say.
Erin Miller
March 04, 2019
Hi John, we’d like to inform you that Jennifer in no way, shape, or form received compensation from Credit Karma for this article, nor was it commissioned by Credit Karma for our site. Just wanted to clear the air on that — we thank you for your honest feedback.
Jane Doe
October 16, 2019
I sent them my driver’s license and they asked me for my birth certificate and social security card. No way! Has anyone had problems with identity theft over your driver’s license? I am so worried now they have my address, date of birth, and driver’s license number. grrrrr!
Jarrod West
October 17, 2019
Hi Jane,
Why did Credit Karma request that you send them your driver’s license, birth certificate, and social security card? None of those things are necessary to create an account with Credit Karma.
Diana
December 01, 2019
I reported in app an error to the IT department. I didn’t need any help with anything. Tried to go back into my account, and they had deactivated my account because I reported a problem with their app. They refused to reactivate my account unless I sent the below information:
I’m happy to help you regain access your account.
To help verify your identity, please submit either two primary documents or one primary and one secondary document (legible, non-expired) from the list below – either in the body of your email or as an attachment.
Primary documents include:
Driver’s License or State ID
Passport
Permanent Resident Card (Green Card)
Military ID
Secondary documents include:
Another primary document
Birth Certificate
Marriage Certificate
Social Security Card
Full utility bill
Robert Matheson
November 09, 2019
I was using credit karma for a while but then I found out that it’s a shame. I went to my bank and found out that the scores were not even close to what they were showing me and then the person I was talking to at my bank said don’t use them due to kick back’s from loan and other credit card companies. Their system is so far out there that you are lucky if you get anything that you apply for. And to the one question that the lady asked about giving them a copy of her driver’s license, never give anyone your information like that. I would make a report with the police department, so you don’t end up with your identity stolen. Credit karma is not good. Always remember when it’s too good to be true that’s exactly what is. Be careful.
Christopher Brown
December 09, 2019
This company is a disgrace and should be investigated. Within 24hrs of Experian informing me my credit rating had risen to “excellent” I have CK informing me that my credit rating has gone down from “good” to “requires attention”. Their claim that their rating methodology is different and can account for these huge anomalies do not wash and are detrimental to those affected. I will be reporting them to my local MP forthwith.
SCOTT SHEERIN
May 29, 2020
My vantage score was 100 points lower than my fico! 100 points. I bought a new car and found out I had fantastic credit. Ck had my vantage score at 635. My fico was 735.
Ck is still useful for monitoring your accounts though.
John Scott
October 01, 2020
I recently paid off my entire debt of $22,000. Subsequent comment: GREAT JOB! Shortly afterwards, I used a credit card for $4000 to supplement a $10,000 cash payment for a car. Now they pummel me every day w/emails of Personal Loan offers which I have absolutely no need for. I contacted them to have them explain how I can disable this “Spam”. They say “We’re working on it”. This has dragged on for weeks now. Their website provides no mechanism to disable this.
The Justice Department is currently investgating them as of February 3rd, 2020 for a pending takeover by Intuit/Turbo Tax. If, in fact they are independent as they maintain, this clearly refutes that claim. They may have some utility but by-and-large, they are simply a marketing tool and will soon lose their “independence”. I’ve since sent them an internal scathing email rebuking this tactic. It’ll be interesting to see their reply. I’m not holding my breath!
Juan
January 12, 2022
Credit Karma is a scam. They offer loans through them and tell you that if you take out a loan with one of their offers it will increase your credit score. Their loans have very high interest rates. One of their offers was to refinance my car with a 30% interest rate. That is crazy. One Main Financial is ripping people off, especially for the people who need to get a good loan to help lower their car payments. We all are going through a tough time with everything getting more expensive during this COVID pandemic. The banks that credit karma uses need to give us a break.
Carolina
June 07, 2023
You can get your funds back
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