myFICO (which is the official consumer facing company for FICO, which produces the most commonly used credit score, the FICO score) has launched three new products. myFICO uses the 2008 classic version from all three credit bureaus. Below is a list of each of the new products and a brief summary of what they offer:
Contents
FICO 3-Bureau Credit Monitoring
- Daily monitoring of your FICO score (2008 classic version) from all three credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian)
- Daily monitoring of your three credit reports from all three credit bureaus
- Access to their score simulator & analysis tool
- Price: $19.95/month or $219/year ($18.25 a month)
FICO Identity Ultimate
- Daily monitoring of your FICO score from all three credit bureaus
- Daily monitoring of your credit report from all three credit bureaus
- 24/7 identity theft restoration
- Identity theft detection suite
- Access to their score simulator & analysis tool
- Price: $29.95/month or $329/year ($24.7 a month)
FICO Identity Basic
- Black market website survelliance
- Identity analysis report
- Change of address detection
- 24/7 identity theft restoration
They’ve also updated their member center.
Our Verdict
To be honest, I’m surprised myFICO hadn’t offered daily FICO updates from all three credit bureaus in the past. For 99% of the population, this is massive overkill and completely unneeded. It does make some sense for those trying to repair their credit, but even then they’d most likely be better off checking in every 6 to 12 months and focusing on getting items removed rather than their actual FICO score.
It’s handy to know all three scores before applying for large loans (e.g mortgages/auto loans) to ensure you’re getting the best rate for your score. Even then you’re not going to be seeing the same score as the lender does though, as they will most likely be using industry specific FICO scores (e.g mortgage or auto loan enhanced).
There are also a whole heap of different ways to find out what your FICO score is, for free. If you don’t really care about your FICO score and only about your FAKO scores then a general credit score would do, there are plenty of ways to find out those as well for free.
In terms of the identity theft protection they are now offering, it’s incredibly hard to gauge how useful it actually is until first hand results come trickling in. Unlike most other sites offering identity theft protection, there is no identity theft insurance included (which I personally think is largely useless based on what it actually covers). It’s also hard to compete when free credit monitoring sites are offering identity theft protection & insurance for free.
As we mentioned earlier, we wouldn’t recommend any of these new products for the vast majority of consumers. If you’re applying for a big loan in the near future either pay a one off to find out your FICO scores or find them out for free. If you just want to monitor your credit use one of the free credit monitoring sites out there. Here are out reviews of them:
Hat tip to the myFICO blog
