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Much like WalletHub, Credit Karma is a website that offers free credit scores. As such, questions of its trustworthiness are bound to arise. Most of us don’t have a lot of experience with credit scores, after all, and many folks’ first impressions are probably still tainted by flashbacks to the days when catchy jingles promising free credit scores led only to free trials for pricey subscription services that were difficult to cancel. And while a healthy amount of skepticism is wise when perusing any website that requests personal or financial information, it’s safe to say that Credit Karma is not one that should merit much worry.… read full answer

Credit Karma is a legitimate website and not a scam, after all, providing helpful services to people for free, with no credit card required. The company did run afoul of the Federal Trade Commission, which in 2014 settled charges alleging negligent mobile data security practices, but that shouldn’t necessarily scare you off. Credit Karma must now submit to biennial independent security audits , which figure to help protect your personal information, along with an “https” connection and 128-bit encryption.

There’s little reason to question the credit data that Credit Karma provides, either, considering that it’s direct from the credit bureau. It could contain errors, sure. One in five credit reports has a mistake in it, according to the FTC. But that has nothing to do with Credit Karma; so-called “data furnishers” such as financial institutions, landlords and employers are typically to blame. Credit Karma’s credit scores are accurate as well, despite being a bit outdated.

With that being said, there are two areas in which doubt enters the trustworthiness equation:

• Questionable Recommendations: Credit Karma relies heavily on advertising to pay the bills, and this unfortunately pervades the products and services that you get pitched while reviewing your credit standing. You will receive recommendations for offers from Credit Karma’s advertising partners only, which means Credit Karma’s pockets take precedence over yours. And you’ll never know if you’re truly seeing the best offers on the market using only Credit Karma’s site. Sure, some measure of advertising can be expected from a purveyor of free credit scores, as nothing is truly free and someone has to pay the credit bureaus for their product. But that doesn’t mean you should trust what you see.

• Decision Making On A Delay: The freshness of Credit Karma’s credit data might serve as another cause for pause, seeing as it only happens once a week and if you log in. That means you’ll be managing your money on a delay and, once again, won’t know what important information you’re missing in the interim.

These points just go to show that while Credit Karma is generally trustworthy, trusting it implicitly or exclusively isn’t advisable.

There is no surefire way to raise your credit score 100 points overnight. Everyone’s situation is a bit different. And even if you do everything right, your score still might not rise that much or that quickly. But you can see exactly how to improve your credit score and how long it will take by checking out … read full answeryour free personalized credit analysis on WalletHub. You will receive grades for each part of your credit score, plus a customized action plan designed to maximize your credit score gains in a minimal amount of time.

Credit score gains don’t just happen. There’s usually a fair amount of legwork involved. So the start-to-finish process of credit improvement really does not happen overnight. But you certainly could wake up one morning with a credit score that’s a lot higher than it was when you went to sleep.

Your credit score can change whenever new information is added to your credit report or old information is removed. Because of that, a handful of things could possibly raise your credit score 100 points overnight. But none of them happens often, so don’t hold your breath.

Here’s how to raise your credit score 100 points overnight:

Dispute negative information on your credit report. If your credit score fell 100+ points as a result of certain negative records being added to your credit report, it figures that removing such information could trigger an increase of 100+ points. The credit bureaus will remove disputed information that you prove is inaccurate, or that the data provider cannot substantiate.

Wait for negative records to fall off your credit report. The information on your credit reports doesn’t stay there forever. Negative records become too old to be included after 7-10 years. So people who hit a rough patch during the Great Recession but used credit responsibly ever since have seen significant credit score improvement lately.

Catch up on missed payments. Preventing past-due accounts from defaulting, paying off collections accounts and otherwise bringing your borrowing back to good standing can quickly produce credit score gains. That’s especially true when you factor in the credit score damage you’re avoiding.

Benefit from a change in credit reporting requirements. In July 2017, changes to the major credit bureaus’ documentation requirements resulted in most tax liens and civil judgments being wiped from consumers’ credit reports. The average person who was affected saw his or her credit score rise by only 10 points as a result.

But 0.7% of people who started with a score of 621-640 saw an increase of about 100 points when all liens and judgments were removed from their credit reports, according to VantageScore. The same happened for 0.2% of people who started with a 641-660 score as well as 0.1% of people who began with a score of 541-560.

Even if your credit score does get 100 points higher overnight, you won’t find out about it for a while with most free credit score sites, which update weekly, monthly or quarterly. But you’ll always see the latest changes on WalletHub, the only site with free credit scores and free credit reports that update daily.

Still, it’s important to emphasize that an excellent credit score is not an overnight sensation. Credit scores reward consistent performance over a long period of time. So paying your bills on time, keeping your credit utilization low, and otherwise managing money responsibly month after month is the best way to build credit and maintain a great score.

But there is a middle ground, fortunately. Credit scores do jump from time to time during their gradual journey higher. So if you need the best credit possible in the near future, there are steps you can take to make your score presentable in 30 days or fewer.

In particular, reducing your credit utilization is one of the easiest ways to improve your credit score within a month’s time. It won’t give you a 100-point bump, but it will produce results. And there are three ways to do it. You can spend less than you ordinarily do, make a bigger payment than usual, or pay your bill more often than normal. The goal is to reduce the balance listed on your monthly account statement, so this strategy won’t benefit you until the end of your billing period.

More generally, paying off debt will always help your score as well as your overall odds as a borrower. You should also avoid applying for credit in the months leading up to needing your credit score for something important. Each application results in a hard inquiry, which can take points off your score for six months or so.

Credit Karma uses two credit bureaus – TransUnion and Equifax – to supply its credit data. And it provides VantageScore 3.0 credit scores based on credit reports from those bureaus. Unfortunately, Credit Karma updates its reports and scores just once a week, and only if you log into your account. … read full answer

WalletHub, on the other hand, offers free daily updates to your TransUnion credit report and VantageScore 3.0 credit score. And you don’t have to sign in for it to happen. You can read more about WalletHub’s advantages over other popular options, but there’s a bigger point here.

Yes, there can be minor differences between your TransUnion, Equifax and Experian credit reports. And credit scores based on each report can vary as a result. But the differences aren’t big enough to warrant going out of your way to get access to all three bureaus’ credit reports and scores.

You can already get a free annual credit report from each major bureau, for one thing. Plus, even with different credit reports and scores in play, an individual will be placed in the same creditworthiness category (i.e., good, excellent, fair or bad) over 70% of the time, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Finally, it can be impossible to tell which credit bureau(s) a lender will pull from, not to mention what type of credit score it will use.