Answers

Knowledgebase Home | Favorites | Forum Welcome to our knowledge base. To find what you're after, use the search box below or choose a category to view listed articles. Search the Knowledgebase Browse by Category [Advanced Search] -- Select Category -- Credit MythbustersLoans    - Personal Loans    - Auto Loans    - Home Loans    - Student LoansCredit CardsCredit Reports and ScoresCredit Report CardIdentity TheftDebt HelpConsumer Law Guide    - College Cost Reduction and Access Act    - Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD Act)     - Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA)    - Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)    - Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)    - Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)    - Fair Debt Collection Practices Act    - Overdraft Rules for Debit and ATM CardsCustomer Support The article has been updated successfully. Knowledgebase Home > Credit Reports and Scores Why isn't my FICO credit score free? Article Details Last Updated 11th of November, 2009 Would you like to... Discuss Print this page Email this page Post a comment Subscribe me Add to favorites Remove Highlighting Edit this Article Quick Edit Export to PDF User Opinions (3 votes) 66% 33% How would you rate this answer? Helpful Not helpful Help us improve. Why was this unhelpful? Thank you for rating this answer. Only Fair Isaac can answer that question, but here are the likely reasons that consumer FICO scores aren't free: Fair Isaac is not required to give away their product for free (the credit reporting agencies, on the other hand, are required by law to give consumers a free copy of their credit reports annually, thanks to the FACT Act. Since lenders use credit scores more than they use credit reports, consumers would like to get their FICO scores free of charge as well. Until FICO is required by law to give their product away for free, however, we as consumers will have to keep paying to see our legitimate credit scores.  Although they generate revenue from other products and services, Fair Isaac’s core product is their FICO scores. It would arguably hurt their business and shareholders if they had to give away hundreds of millions of scores for free.  Giving away a credit score for free is problematic. First of all, you can't calculate a FICO score without the consumer’s credit report. That means that for every free FICO score, one of the credit bureaus will also have to give away one of their credit reports. Second, simply giving away the score isn’t enough. You also have to provide the context around the score, such as why it wasn’t higher, what the consumer can do to improve it, and other score-related specifics. This information is much more valuable than the score itself -- there’s great value to it. As such, it shouldn’t be free.   There is some good news, however. Credit.com's new Credit Report Card allows consumers to receive a free estimate of their credit scores based on their most recent credit report data. Consumers receive an explanation of the five key factors in the score and a grade for each category, See where your credit stands: Get your Credit Report Card today! Related Articles Where can I get my FICO scores and credit reports? What is a bad credit score? Does everybody have a FICO credit score? What is the difference between the FICO score and the scores that Experian/TransUnion sell on their websites? What happened to FICO credit scores provided by Experian? Continue