Intuit Credit Karma
A sign of strength for Kansas City area consumers: the average credit score in January was 680, 11 points better than the national average. The information comes from a sampling of more than 100,000 credit scores by Credit Karma, a consumer credit education and services company that works with troubled borrowers.
They're not like most of the other bait and switch companies that give you the onetime report for free only to automatically upgrade you to a paid service. It's a totally pro-consumer and once you sign up you can check your scores anytime and instead of hitting up subscribers they make their money by onsite advertising and offers from partners.
Credit Karma swaps free credit reports/scores for personal info. It also dishes up financial advice whose path eventually crosses those of marketing partners "who share our vision of consumer empowerment." The site notes: "Your credit score is kind of an expression of this concept; an index of your credit history: your credit karma.".
You all know that using a credit card, building your credit limit, and paying your balance on time build up your credit score. It's always a good idea to check up on your credit score every now and then. Well, there is a free service out here called Credit Karma.
Beyond quantifying your fiscal dependability in a single number, Credit Karma also provides some nice reports breaking down the individual areas that contribute to that score. They give you a letter grade and a percentile ranking relative to the rest of the herd, helping point you in the right direction to bring that score up to par.
Web traffic at Credit Karma has been growing steadily. The site currently boasts more than 400,000 unique visitors per month, more than double the volume a year ago. Credit Karma also announced that it quadrupled its users in 2009 and now has more than one million subscribers.
For instance, according to CreditKarma.com, the average consumer with a credit card has a score of 689, while the average score of a person without a card is 563. This means, in order to build good credit and make yourself eligible for a house or car, it's good to regularly use at least one credit card.
CreditKarma.com gives free TransUnion TransRisk credit scores... Not getting a score for free "just seemed wrong," says Nichole Mustard, co-founder and vice president of strategy for CreditKarma.com.
"Responsible use of credit cards helps consumers develop a good credit profile. Consumers who don't carry a credit card have an average credit score of 563, vs. 689 for those with at least one card who carry a monthly balance, according to Credit Karma, a consumer website that provides free credit scores."
Nichole Mustard, vice president of strategy for Credit Karma, told me in a telephone interview that credit reporting agencies have been guessing at income for a long time based on your credit usage, payment history and credit availability.