Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com), the free and easy way to access, improve and leverage your credit,today announced that it’s new Credit Score Simulator was awarded Best of Show honors at last week’s Finovate 2008 conference in New York.
The company’s Credit Score Simulator allows consumers to estimate how any one of 14 different behaviors can positively or negatively affect their credit score.Given today’s financial climate where loans and superior interest rates are reserved for only the best of customers, this simulator is a powerful toolfor understanding how to improve the availability of credit.
“Now more than ever, consumers understand that a credit score is the defining indicator of their financial health,” said Eric Mattson, CEO of Finovate.”Unfortunately, they are also often in the dark as to their actual score and what can be done to improve it. Credit Karma is offering them a way to quickly and easily do both.”
The Credit Score Simulator estimates how certain financial transactions or behaviors will affect a credit score over time.Possible financial behaviors range from the affects of opening a new line of credit, to extending the limit on an existing one.For each adjusted behavior, the simulator calculates a new score customized for each individual.The simulator also provides immediate feedback on a selected behavior to let users know whether it will drive a credit score up or down.
Examples of basic behaviors that could affect a consumer with a beginning credit score of 724 are included below.Each example will change depending on individual credit scores and circumstances.
- Adding a new credit card with a $25,000 limit decreases score to 710
- Allowing one account to become 30-days past due decreases score to 678
- Allowing all accounts to become 90-days past due decreases score to 660
- Maintaining on-time account payment for 15-months increases score to 744
“It’s obvious that simple financial behaviors can have a critical impact on an individual’s credit score,” said Kenneth Lin, founder and CEO of Credit Karma.”Some actions, such as opening a line of credit, might even have a counterintuitive effect on one’s score.Given the current credit crisis, it’s more important than ever that everyone have free access to their score and these toolsso that they can become better educated consumers and more easily manage their financial lives.”
To learn more about the Credit Karma Credit Score Simulator please visit www.creditkarma.com/simulator.
About Credit Karma
Based in San Francisco, Credit Karma is a pro-consumer credit score company dedicated to helping consumers better understand the power of their creditby giving them completely free access to their credit score as often as they wish, providing a host of tools and services to help them track and monetize that score,and helping them become better overall credit consumers. At www.creditkarma.com, consumers not only learn their score,but they can identify what behaviors will positively impact their score and then gain preferred product pricing based on their credit score range.