The Hidden Costs of Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, and Other Credit Score Apps - ConsumerReports.org

Consumers must agree to all of the above just so they can see their credit score. But there’s a problem even with that. Consumers don’t have a single credit score, but dozens, Ejaz says. Four of the apps CR examined reveal only a single score, and “that score likely won’t be the same one lenders or banks use to make a decision about whether or not you qualify for a loan or credit card,” he says. 

Only myFICO gives you access to other, possibly more useful scores, but it requires you to pay for the privilege. 

With the exception of Credit Karma, the free apps also charge consumers a fee to access their credit report. That’s the file maintained by the three major credit agencies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—cataloging your credit card, mortgage, and other loan and financial history, and that your score is based on. But you can check your credit reports free through AnnualCreditReport.com, a website run by those credit agencies, as mandated by federal law. Until April 2022, you can do that weekly; after that, you can do it once a year.

Overall, using a credit app is a tradeoff that could do more harm than good, says Ed Mierzwinski, senior director for the federal consumer program at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer advocacy group, who was not involved in the evaluations of the apps and is also a CR Board member. “You give up a tremendous amount of information, and allow these companies to collect a vast amount of information so that they can give you for ‘free,’ or worse, sell you a credit score that is not used in the real world,” he says. 

But that these companies see financial opportunity in making credit scores available to consumers is problematic by itself, Ejaz says. “The only reason credit apps exist is that consumers don’t have a right to access the kind of credit scores that really matter,” he says. “That’s why CR supports the Protecting Your Credit Score Act of 2021, which would establish a secure portal where consumers can access their credit reports and scores for free and an unlimited number of times.” 

The bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J.

CR asked all five companies about their consumer privacy, data collection, and data sharing practices. They emphasized that they take consumer privacy very seriously and that consumer trust is paramount to their business.

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The Hidden Costs of Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, and Other Credit Score Apps - ConsumerReports.org
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