Experian released an interesting article about the push for government mandated free credit scores. It looks like this is finally going to become a reality, with a strong push being made with the new SECURE act which has provisions for free credit scores and more accountability when it comes to inaccuracies on current reports.
It seems that Experian has completely missed the point though, they cite that one in four American’s don’t currently check their credit reports. They then go on to say that credit card companies should be the ones providing consumers with free access to their credit score.
I’ve been a big advocate for credit card companies providing free credit scores (especially considering it can be profitable to do so). At the end of the day, it’s actually the credit bureaus (and credit scoring companies, such as FICO) that are making hundreds of millions of dollars from consumer credit data that should be footing the bill. In an ideal world the most commonly used credit score by lenders (FICO currently has 90% market share) would be provided for free to consumers whenever they access their credit report through annualcreditreport.com.
To make the Experian article even more laughable, they are encouraging credit card issuers to offer VantageScore V3 (which they co-own) freely – rather than the more commonly used FICO scores. It’s disappointing to see that Experian are so blatantly pushing their own agenda without regard to what’s best for individual consumers (which is how they derive their profit).
If you haven’t already, make sure you contact your local senate representative to let them know that you support the SECURE act and would like to see it passed. There are also a bunch of sites that allow you free access to your FAKO scores (including VantageScore V3).
