After the Obama administration pushed for it, major banks began adding a very useful feature to their credit cards: free credit scores. At the moment, credit cards from AMEX, Chase, Citi, Barclays, and Discover all provide scores from different credit bureaus, and BofA's free score feature also recently went live. There are also several websites on the market that claim to offer free credit scores in order to attract sign-ups. So what are the differences among these scores? Which one is the most authoritative, and which one has the best interface and features? Today, let's compare them side by side.
[Update 2/22] Citi now offers everyone a free Experian score, with no Citi card required. You just need to register an account on Citi's website and verify your identity; no credit card information is required. In general, bank websites are reasonably secure. The free score remains available for 90 days, so feel free to sign up and take a look. The registration link and my score are below...
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Introduction to Credit Scores
There are three major credit bureaus in the US that provide credit reports: Experian (EX), TransUnion (TU), and Equifax (EQ). When reviewing your credit card or loan application, most banks will pull a report from one or more of these bureaus to decide whether to approve you.
In many cases, one of the criteria for approval is your credit score. A credit score is essentially a numerical measure of the risk reflected in your credit report—the higher, the better. Today, the most widely used scoring models are from FICO. Even so, your credit reports at the three bureaus may not be identical (for example, HP can differ), and the FICO model used by each bureau may not be the same either. Therefore, your scores from the three bureaus are often different.
Besides FICO scores, some other companies also use their own models to calculate credit scores. For example, the free scores from CreditKarma and Creditseame are both generated using their own proprietary models. In other words, scores from other models are mainly for reference only. They are useful for tracking trends over time, but there is no need to focus too much on the exact number.
No matter which model or bureau is used, credit scores are determined by these factors: Payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), new accounts (10%), and credit mix (10%). For a more detailed discussion of these factors, see:
Free Credit Scores
Below are some ways to obtain free credit scores or credit reports:
- Credit reports from the three major bureaus (available once per year; highly recommended)
- [New] Discover Credit Score Card provides everyone with an Experian credit score (FICO) and part of their report
- CreditKarma provides TransUnion and Equifax credit reports and reference-only scores
- CreditSeame provides a TransUnion credit report and a reference-only score
- Citi credit cards provide an Equifax credit score
- Chase Slate credit card and Wells Fargo credit cards provide an Experian credit score
- Barclays credit cards, Discover credit cards, and BofA credit cards provide a TransUnion credit score
- AMEX credit cards provide an Experian credit score
Here, “reference-only” means the score is calculated using the company's own model rather than the authoritative FICO score. As you can see, if you have credit cards from Citi, AMEX, and Discover, you can collect free credit scores from all three major credit bureaus. Next, let's look at each issuer in turn.
AMEX Credit Score
AMEX credit cards provide an Experian credit score. Overall, the interface is pretty good, but the biggest downside is that it only shows the current score and last month's score, without a longer score history. AMEX also lists two key factors affecting my credit score, which is a nice touch.
- Score chart:
- [Update 7/2] Score history chart:
- Interpretation of the credit report and score:
- Update frequency: AMEX updates monthly, but it always shows the previous month's score, and all cards display the same score
Barclays Credit Score
Barclays credit cards provide a TransUnion credit score. It is fairly standard and similar to Citi's. The history also goes back one year.
- Score chart:
- Score history chart:
- Interpretation of the credit report and score: Exactly the same as AMEX, so I won't include another screenshot here.
- Update frequency: Updated irregularly, usually once every two months
BofA Credit Score
BofA credit cards provide a TransUnion credit score. Overall, the interface is quite good and very compact.
- Score and score history chart
- Interpretation of the credit report and score: Exactly the same as AMEX, so I won't include another screenshot here.
- Update frequency: Unknown
Chase Slate Credit Score (image provided by a friend)
Chase Slate credit card provides an Experian credit score. The interface is compact, user-friendly, and easy to understand at a glance. Most importantly, it not only provides a credit score, but also part of the credit report. This includes number of accounts, Hardpull, utilization, and other information, which is very useful.
- Score and history chart
- Credit report chart
- Credit report and score interpretation: Exactly the same as AMEX, so I won’t include screenshots here.
- Update frequency: Updated monthly, showing that month’s score
Citi Credit Score
Citi credit cards provide an Equifax credit score. Citi’s score history chart looks very useful, and the longer you have held a Citi card, the further back that score history goes. So when checking your score, it’s best to choose the Citi card you have had the longest. Of course, for cards older than six months, there is no difference anymore.
- Score chart:
- Score history chart:
- Credit report and score interpretation: Exactly the same as AMEX, so I won’t include screenshots here.
- Update frequency: Citi updates monthly and shows that month’s score. All cards show the same score, but the amount of score history available differs.
Discover Credit Score
Available to everyone
【5/20/2016 update】 Discover launched a new feature that lets you directly check your Experian FICO credit score, and it also provides part of your credit report. Even better, you do not need to be a Discover credit card user to get this score and report; you can get it just by registering.
- Score chart and partial credit report:
- Credit report and score interpretation: Lists the major factors that affect your credit score
- Update frequency: Updated once every 30 days; just log in to your account when it is time to check
Exclusive to Discover credit card holders
Discover provides my favorite credit score feature. It is very clear at a glance, and the history goes back as far as one year. Based on score changes, you can think about what may have affected your credit score over the past year. If you click on “Table View,” you can also see a monthly interpretation of your credit score, which is excellent.
- Score chart and score history chart:
- Credit report and score interpretation: Exactly the same as AMEX, so I won’t include screenshots here.
- Update frequency: Discover cards update monthly. The update timing is tied to your statement date, and different cards may show different scores because they update at different times.
Wells Fargo Credit Score (provided by Ryan Shi)
Wells Fargo credit cards provide an Experian credit score.
- Score chart and score history chart:
- Update frequency: Once per month
10. Comparison
10.1 Usefulness analysis:
The usefulness of scores from the three credit bureaus is not the same. As mentioned above, credit scores are tied to credit bureaus. When you apply for a credit card, banks pull reports and scores from one or more credit bureaus to decide whether to approve you. So if a bank especially likes to use a certain bureau’s report and score, then that bureau’s score becomes especially useful. In most states, Chase, AMEX, and Citi all like to pull Experian credit reports and scores, while Barclays and Chase may pull TransUnion, and Discover likes Equifax. At the same time, when you consider that Chase, AMEX, and Citi have far more worthwhile credit cards than other banks, we can draw the following conclusion:
- The strongest options are the cards that provide Experian scores: AMEX credit cards, the Chase Slate credit card, and Wells Fargo credit cards
10.2 Interface, update frequency, and extra features
Discover has the best interface. It presents the information most clearly, putting the full one-year trend on one chart while also showing your current credit score. As for update frequency, they are all about the same, updating once a month. However, Barclays does not update if there is no statement, which is pretty stingy. The Chase Slate credit card not only provides a free credit score, but also part of your EX credit report, which is very useful.
11. Summary
Understanding your own credit score can be somewhat helpful when applying for credit cards. Since banks provide this free credit score and score interpretation, you can check it every month and learn what methods may help improve your credit score. Based on the comparison above, overall Discover provides the most comprehensive credit score feature, while AMEX provides the most useful credit score. If you are interested in these credit cards, see Summary of Commonly Used Credit Cards.