My Personal Finance Journey

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September 2004 Credit Score: TransUnion/635, Experian/732

Contributed by mm | September 30, 2004 3:33 PM PST

Some of you asked me why I haven't posted my September credit score yet. I didn't post it earlier because I recently changed the source to get my score. As you might recall, I had been using Eloan's Credit Monitoring Service in the last 12 months. At $29.95 a year, it is an economical plan to get monthly scores.

But there is a cheaper alternative for me now: with the recent upgrade to Microsoft Money 2005, I am entitled to one year of free credit monitoring service from Experian. In a nutshell, this free offer includes a one-time credit report from Experian, and, as far as I know, unlimited Experian PLUS score for the period. (The free trial offer signup does not require credit card information; upon signup, Experian will send you a snail mail will access code information so it may take up to two weeks to get access to the credit report and credit score.)

(On a side note, you also know from my previous credit score updates that I am using the free TransUnion score provided by my Providian card too. It is free and a monthly score is usually available on 25th of every month. The Providian free service just offers a score but very limited other information.)

Now here comes the score for September: Experian thinks I am an "excellent" risk, giving me a score of 732 which puts me ahead of 54% of the population. (You might remember it is well above the 675 score PrivacyGuard reported to me in mid-August.) TransUnion turns its back on me, slashing my credit score my 99 points in a month to 635.

  TransUnion Eloan Difference
September-03 686 636 50
October-03 686 663 23
November-03 686 650 36
December-03 673 649 24
January-04 689 673 16
February-04 695 684 11
March-04 697 691 6
April-04 710 675 35
May-04 704 679 25
June-04 730 700 30
July-04 719 710 9
August-04 734 666 68
  TransUnion Experian Difference
September-04 635 732 -97

I can understand some of TransUnion's concerns. The system shows my revolving balance is now $15,000 to $19,999 and this is partly due to my unsuccessful Fleet balance transfer. I almost maxed out my credit limit on two cards; one due to the Fleet issue, and the other is due to the 0% APR deal from Discover. With this nasty experience off my back, I expect to see positive changes to my score in the next couple of months.

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This Post Has Received 1 Comment. Share Your Opinions Too.


Tommy Commented on September 30, 2004

Some credit cards are now offering free monthly scores. Providian (the provider of my Paypal credit card) is offering this service. Also, I'm down to under 8K of revolving debt! Woohoo!



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