I have been using Credit Karma for the past few years and found them really useful in many tasks like my credit score tracking, reading reviews for credit cards I am interested in or looking at applying and it also gives the approval odds for as an average person in your age range with the same credit score and similar incomes. So it is rather a useful tool to have to know your approval odds. They have started a new service in 2017 where you can now file taxes and I did file it with them this year and my experience has been great and it was very simple to do through their platform. I did some research and wanted to answer most common questions asked. I’ve compiled this post for Credit Karma Review and why you should open an account with them.

Here’s some questions I had before I joined Credit Karma and added a few from most researched questions.

  • Is credit Karma really free?
  • What are the benefits of using Credit Karma Services?
  • Is Credit Karma safe to use?
  • What is Credit Karma’s Accuracy on Scores?
  • How does Credit Karma make money?

Is credit Karma really free?

Yes, absolutely it is 100% free. In this day and age this has become a most common issue I have noticed where you and me start questioning what really “free” means after signing up for other websites that claimed “free”. In the end you realize that you need to pay for services that you really thought were free. As far as Credit Karma they will not ask for your credit card information to later find out you were charged on a second month of using it like other website do, I mean who reads the fine print now a days when signing up for websites?

Here’s Credit Karma’s FAQ:

Question: Is Credit Karma really free?

Answer: Yes. Credit Karma is always 100% free.

Question: Does Credit Karma require a credit card to sign up?

Answer: No, and we never will. Credit Karma will never ask you for your credit card number during the registration process or at any other time.

I guarantee you that there’s no way to get charged on Credit Karma and it is absolutely free.

If you want exact numbers for your credit report, then the alternative is myFICO. You will be paying for it though.

What are the benefits of using Credit Karma Services?

  • Equifax Credit Score: This score is continuously updated as you take any action that is affecting your credit score. It is updated every 7 days.
  • TransUnion Credit Score: You also get TransUnion score in addition to the Equifax. Do you see where I am going wit this? You are getting two of the three major credit bureaus right there for free.

  • Credit Reports: Credit Karma has free Credit Reports on TransUnion and Equifax. It can’t get any better than that. All you do once you have an account is just click “view score details” in your dashboard. This kind of service gives you an access to your report on frequent basis (weekly). Comparing it to annualcreditreport.com which allows you to get your report once a year. So, you are able to see your credit score reports and if any errors occur, you don’t have to wait a year and then find out about your credit mistake 9 months ago and try to fix it.
  • Free Credit Monitoring: Credit Karma is offering free credit monitoring. This will notify you if anything suspicious happens like spotting errors or signs of identity theft. This is a great tool that I could not recommend enough of signing up for the Credit Karma. Identity theft happens so frequently and my close relatives has been affected and it is a very bad experience that  I hope you will never go through.
  • Tells you all the most common factors: I mean just see this picture below, this feature is so useful and I can’t say enough on how interesting it is to check where you are standing every week. In fact, it has become my tradition every 7 days just to check out those factors.
  • Credit Score Simulator: Credit Karma offers simulator and I think that this is the best feature of Credit Karma. You are basically predicting your approval odds for pretty much everything like getting a new car loan, transferring balances to a new card, opening a new credit card, getting a credit limit increase and even if you are going into foreclosures. This is a pretty awesome feature and I’ve used it so many time before I made any move that could affect my credit. This is definitely good to know.
  • Approval odds: This is another feature I found so great, I mean you get to see your approval odds for credit card you are applying for, this is great. Here’s how it looks:
  • Free Tax Filing: Credit Karma is also offering Tax filing. This year 2017 was the first year and already a million people filed using Credit Karma Tax. I was one of them and had a great experience, it was also very simple to file the taxes through them.

Is Credit Karma Safe to Use?

After doing research on this I did not find anything relating to Credit Karma and it’s safety. They have nailed this aspect on safety. So, yes Credit Karma is extremely safe. As with any credit services you must be verified with your social security number and Credit  Karma is really stand behind this. You may only need to enter the last 4 digits as a new account opener or if your records are hard to find you they might ask for all 9. They use the top and best encryption services and they will never sell or rent any of your information. None of your information can be transferred nor somebody else’s bills paid because their information is all read only.

What is Credit Karma’s Accuracy on Scores?

I have compared my scores with both FICO that lenders use and Credit Karma Scores and also the research about this and found out that in my score the difference is in about 1% range and according to other people on internet their score are also in 1% range, so their accuracy is extremely great. 1% difference will not make a difference in you credit application for approval.

How does Credit Karma Make Money:

So, how does Credit Karma make money? I mean with all those services they provide for free? 

Well, it is called ad-based offers from its partners. Whenever you go to Credit Karma and see a great offer for a credit card for example and you click on “Apply Now” it and it takes you to the page and you apply for the card, that is how they get their share on you applying for that offer. This also is not hidden feature and you can turn it off and not receive any promotional offers.

Bottom Line

I hope you found my Credit Karma Review a useful decision maker for you if you are planning on signing up. I highly recommend signing up for Credit Karma and I know you will benefit a lot in this just like me. The tools they provide are outstanding and I check my Credit Karma account at least once a week to see how I am doing. There’s nothing out there that can beat the free services offered by Credit Karma from my perspective and by doing the research doing this post. So sign up today and after some time share your experience with me I would love to hear them. Sign Up Here.

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