myFICO Ultimate 3B Credit Monitoring Review
Sign up for myFICO Ultimate 3B Credit Monitoring
Rating:
Bottom Line:
3-bureau monitoring and real FICO scores; FICO score updates anytime a change is detected at a bureau; no free trial; more expensive than comparable services
Full Review:
There are a number of companies offering comprehensive credit report monitoring service, but myFICO is one of the few to monitor your three credit reports as well as your actual three-bureau FICO credit scores, which are used in about 90% of credit inquiries related to applying for a loan or a new line of credit. In addition, you get quarterly access to a number of different FICO scores, including the new FICO 9 score. Although more expensive than most of its competition, myFICO will send you updates any time your credit scores change. This is a great feature, allowing you to keep a constant pulse on your financial health.
myFICO also includes a wide variety of tools to monitor your credit reports and scores, such as financial calculators, as well as identity theft protection services. The downside is there is no free trial and myFICO is more expensive than most of its competition. However, myFICO offers a rarity with your actual FICO scores, which is a huge plus.
The signup process takes just a couple of minutes. You can choose between two different packages: FICO Essentials 1B and FICO Ultimate 3B. We picked the 3B, which stands for three-bureau, FICO credit scores and credit monitoring plan, which costs $29.95/month when paid monthly or $27.42/month if you purchase an annual subscription. If you'd like to spend less, the single-bureau monitoring is $19.95/month, although you're not going to get as detailed a view of your credit health from this plan, as it only provides information from Experian.
Once you decide which plan you want, you’ll need to provide some basic personal information, such as your name, address and social security number. All of this is done over an encrypted web page, so you don’t need to worry about any security leaks of your personal information. After providing your credit card information and answering a few personal verification questions to confirm that you are who you say you are, you'll have access to your reports and scores. The personal verification questions relate to public records that detail things like loans you’ve taken out, where you've lived and what area code your cell phone number belongs to. myFICO will send a confirmation email that instructs you to log into your account and set up the various features.
After activating your account, you will instantly get access to credit monitoring, which will alert you if changes occur on your reports, as well as your three-bureau FICO credit scores. myFICO Ultimate 3B provides updated credit reports each quarter and breaks them down into sections so you can easily digest the information. They even include contact information for each credit bureau at the bottom of each section, in case you want to file a dispute. You can view exact payment history for each account, which is helpful for spotting specific errors. If you want to request updated credit reports sooner than the next quarter, you can order them at a 20% discount of $47.88.
Where myFICO really shines is your credit scores. With myFICO, you’ll receive real-time updates to your credit scores. This mean your credit scores are updated anytime a change is reported by one of the bureaus, so you’ll know exactly where your credit stands, which can be seen as a positive or negative feature (depending on how active your credit is). For example, if changes aren’t reported to one of the bureaus for three months, you won’t be alerted during that time. This might be frustrating for someone who wants an update every month, but it’s comforting to know you’ll be alerted as soon as there’s a change.
It also shows you not only the three FICO scores most credit monitoring services provide, but those which are most widely used in mortgage, auto and credit card lending and the new FICO 9 scores. This may not be of much use to those who aren't planning on buying a home or car anytime soon, but if you are, the ability to monitor all of these scores at once is a bonus.
myFICO provides a number of tools to go along with its credit score and report monitoring, including an excellent "what-if" simulator that will estimate how your credit scores might change based on different actions that can affect your score, such as paying down a debt or having a hard inquiry placed on your report.
You can also set customizable alerts so that you’ll be emailed or texted when there is a change to any of your scores or account balances. These alerts are especially helpful for someone working to build their credit scores. For example, if you have a credit score of 680 and want to know when it hits 700, you can have a message sent to you when you reach that goal. You can elect to receive alerts via text message as well as by email.
Overall, myFICO is bar none when it comes to specifically monitoring and updating your FICO credit scores.
myFICO Ultimate 3B comes with a number of excellent identity theft protection tools, including lost wallet protection, black market website surveillance (to make sure your personal information isn’t being sold) and alerts of potential threats via email or text, among other useful services. Members also have access to identity restoration services and $1 million identity theft insurance. While the identity theft protection services offered by myFICO are helpful, they aren't as thorough as comparable services with cheaper rates.
We found myFICO’s customer support to be helpful and easily accessible. We waited less than five minutes for a representative to connect with us on the phone, which is above standard for these kinds of services. They answered all of our questions thoughtfully and thoroughly. You can reach myFICO by telephone Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. You can send an email as well, and myFICO promises to respond within two business days. The website also has a list of commonly-asked questions with answers and an active user forum.
Overall, myFICO is a great service for those looking to continually monitor their FICO scores and have an up-to-date picture of their credit. However, there’s no free trial, so testing out the service is pricey, and you can find similar monitoring with more robust identity theft features for a lower cost with other services. You might feel nickel-and-dimed with myFICO, but if having access to your actual FICO scores is important, this is the service for you.
myFICO also includes a wide variety of tools to monitor your credit reports and scores, such as financial calculators, as well as identity theft protection services. The downside is there is no free trial and myFICO is more expensive than most of its competition. However, myFICO offers a rarity with your actual FICO scores, which is a huge plus.
Signup
The signup process takes just a couple of minutes. You can choose between two different packages: FICO Essentials 1B and FICO Ultimate 3B. We picked the 3B, which stands for three-bureau, FICO credit scores and credit monitoring plan, which costs $29.95/month when paid monthly or $27.42/month if you purchase an annual subscription. If you'd like to spend less, the single-bureau monitoring is $19.95/month, although you're not going to get as detailed a view of your credit health from this plan, as it only provides information from Experian.
Once you decide which plan you want, you’ll need to provide some basic personal information, such as your name, address and social security number. All of this is done over an encrypted web page, so you don’t need to worry about any security leaks of your personal information. After providing your credit card information and answering a few personal verification questions to confirm that you are who you say you are, you'll have access to your reports and scores. The personal verification questions relate to public records that detail things like loans you’ve taken out, where you've lived and what area code your cell phone number belongs to. myFICO will send a confirmation email that instructs you to log into your account and set up the various features.
Credit Monitoring, Reports and Scores
After activating your account, you will instantly get access to credit monitoring, which will alert you if changes occur on your reports, as well as your three-bureau FICO credit scores. myFICO Ultimate 3B provides updated credit reports each quarter and breaks them down into sections so you can easily digest the information. They even include contact information for each credit bureau at the bottom of each section, in case you want to file a dispute. You can view exact payment history for each account, which is helpful for spotting specific errors. If you want to request updated credit reports sooner than the next quarter, you can order them at a 20% discount of $47.88.
Where myFICO really shines is your credit scores. With myFICO, you’ll receive real-time updates to your credit scores. This mean your credit scores are updated anytime a change is reported by one of the bureaus, so you’ll know exactly where your credit stands, which can be seen as a positive or negative feature (depending on how active your credit is). For example, if changes aren’t reported to one of the bureaus for three months, you won’t be alerted during that time. This might be frustrating for someone who wants an update every month, but it’s comforting to know you’ll be alerted as soon as there’s a change.
It also shows you not only the three FICO scores most credit monitoring services provide, but those which are most widely used in mortgage, auto and credit card lending and the new FICO 9 scores. This may not be of much use to those who aren't planning on buying a home or car anytime soon, but if you are, the ability to monitor all of these scores at once is a bonus.
myFICO provides a number of tools to go along with its credit score and report monitoring, including an excellent "what-if" simulator that will estimate how your credit scores might change based on different actions that can affect your score, such as paying down a debt or having a hard inquiry placed on your report.
You can also set customizable alerts so that you’ll be emailed or texted when there is a change to any of your scores or account balances. These alerts are especially helpful for someone working to build their credit scores. For example, if you have a credit score of 680 and want to know when it hits 700, you can have a message sent to you when you reach that goal. You can elect to receive alerts via text message as well as by email.
Overall, myFICO is bar none when it comes to specifically monitoring and updating your FICO credit scores.
Identity Theft Protection and Tools
myFICO Ultimate 3B comes with a number of excellent identity theft protection tools, including lost wallet protection, black market website surveillance (to make sure your personal information isn’t being sold) and alerts of potential threats via email or text, among other useful services. Members also have access to identity restoration services and $1 million identity theft insurance. While the identity theft protection services offered by myFICO are helpful, they aren't as thorough as comparable services with cheaper rates.
Customer Support
We found myFICO’s customer support to be helpful and easily accessible. We waited less than five minutes for a representative to connect with us on the phone, which is above standard for these kinds of services. They answered all of our questions thoughtfully and thoroughly. You can reach myFICO by telephone Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT and Saturdays 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. You can send an email as well, and myFICO promises to respond within two business days. The website also has a list of commonly-asked questions with answers and an active user forum.
Conclusion
Overall, myFICO is a great service for those looking to continually monitor their FICO scores and have an up-to-date picture of their credit. However, there’s no free trial, so testing out the service is pricey, and you can find similar monitoring with more robust identity theft features for a lower cost with other services. You might feel nickel-and-dimed with myFICO, but if having access to your actual FICO scores is important, this is the service for you.
Sign up for myFICO Ultimate 3B Credit Monitoring | Compare to Other Credit Report Monitoring
Product Details
| Credit Scores: | FICO scores based on data from Equifax, Experian & TransUnion |
| Credit Reports: | Reports from all 3 bureaus |
| Trial Period & Price: | $27.42/mo (paid annually); No free trial |
| Credit Monitoring: | All 3 bureaus |
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