Q: I’ve tried to get my FICO credit score at a reasonable price or no cost but can’t do it without some other service tossed in. Help!
– Harry Hall, Greenwood Village
A: The current economic climate makes it even more important for consumers to have a handle on their credit, most especially their FICO score.
It is the score used by nearly all financial and credit institutions for determining what you will pay for everything from a mortgage to auto insurance.
I spoke with the folks at Fair Isaacs, the developers of the algorithm used to get the score, and they said you have a couple of good options.
The first is to contact your bank, particularly one with which you have a credit card. Many institutions, such as Washington Mutual and HSBC, already offer free FICO credit scores to their card and account holders. The score you receive is the one calculated by TransUnion, one of the big three credit-reporting agencies.
The other way is to log on at
and register for the 30-day trial of its “score watch” product. You’ll immediately receive your FICO score from Equifax. Then simply cancel the trial at no cost.
Don’t forget that step. If you do, your credit card will get dinged for the $8.95 monthly charge that begins on day 31.
Very important to remember is that there are other ways to get free credit scores — and credit reports are free at least once a year so you should never have to pay for them — but those scores are not the important FICO tally.
The big-three reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — have produced a new one, called VantageScore, and have unsuccessfully tried to unseat FICO as king.
The VantageScore, you will see, is very different, so be sure you’re getting what you want.
David Migoya wants to get the answers to your consumer questions. E-mail consumertips@
or write to Consumer Shopping Bag, The Denver Post, 101 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 600, Denver 80202.
