Intuit Credit Karma
American consumers rarely have been such a bad bet. With unemployment up and salaries down, credit worthiness has plummeted. Nearly half of American households have credit ratings that are high risk, according to Credit Karma, and the average credit score has dropped more than 20 points in the past three years.
If you’ve got a good or improving credit history now is the time to scout out lower-interest credit cards that could save you hundreds of dollars annually. “It’s a buyer’s market for credit-card consumers now,” said Ken Lin, chief executive of CreditKarma.com, which develops free credit tools for consumers.
Credit Karma makes Inc. Magazine's Top 5000 List of fastest growing private companies in America.
Despite the fact that there is a government website, AnnualCreditReport.gov, where you can get your credit report for free once a year and legitimate sites like CreditKarma.com where you can get your credit score for free (with no "trial period"), lots of people still sign up for these credit monitoring services.
These top-scoring cards are also some of the hardest to qualify for, typically requiring a FICO credit score of 700 or greater, according to CreditKarma.com, a consumer credit website.
CreditKarma CEO Kenneth Lin recommends that consumers open new accounts over the Internet, taking and saving screen-shots of exactly what products they are applying for. Unless a call is recorded, applying over the phone leaves consumers without proof of what happened during the transaction.
The recession and its aftermath, including stubbornly high unemployment, did a number on Americans’ credit scores. The average person’s credit score is 655, according to Credit Karma.
Credit Karma, the online credit monitoring service backed by $3 million from SV Angel, Founders Fund and others, has shot up to become the #1 Financial app in the Apple App Store and #22 overall, only a day after its mobile debut. Like its online counterpart, Credit Karma Mobile brings credit monitoring to your iOS device, and notifies you when certain events are reported on your credit report.
Now iPhone users can monitor their credit activity and check their credit score at will with Credit Karma's new app, Credit Karma Mobile.
A new smartphone app debuted Wednesday from CreditKarma.com. It can be found in the Apple App store for iPhones and iPads. The app is the first and only way to get a free credit score and free credit monitoring on-the-go