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.
