If you believe that you have bad credit because you have had trouble paying your bills or loans, it is important that you know exactly where you stand. Thankfully, getting your credit score does not have to cost you anything if you use one of the following 10 sites currently offering free credit score checks.
Anyone who has taken out a loan, had a credit card or gone through debt collection has a credit score, and that score can be either a help or a hindrance down the road. An excellent score will help potential lenders see you as a good credit risk, which could help you earn lower interest rates. However, a poor or average credit score may saddle you with higher interest rates or even affect your ability to be approved for a future loan.
If you believe that you have bad credit because you have had trouble paying your bills or loans, it is important that you know exactly where you stand. Thankfully, getting your credit score does not have to cost you anything if you use one of the following 10 sites currently offering free credit score checks.
1. Equifax
If you want to get your score directly from a reporting agency, Equifax is a smart choice.
As a leading credit report provider, Equifax will give you the most recent information possible and will also help you understand your report. Finally, if you notice any errors on your report, you can get help correcting them.
2. Experian
Experian is the other leading reporting agency in Australia. However, Experian makes it a bit more difficult to get your free report and insists that you provide copies of your identification by mail or email before proceeding.
You may need to track down your driver’s license, credit card, home insurance papers or other paperwork before Experian will send you your report.
3. GetCreditScore
This site uses Equifax, a leading Australian credit reporting agency, to generate your score.
You can see your score immediately, and the check will not negatively affect your current score. In addition, GetCreditScore also matches you to financial products that could help you improve your credit.
4. CreditSavvy
On the other hand, CreditSavvy uses your report from Experian to give you your score and show potential products based on your financial goals.
Additionally, CreditSavvy gives you free monthly updates regarding changes on your credit report. It boasts that joining takes only three minutes.
5. Free Credit Score
This site is incredibly easy to use and is even optimised for smartphones and tablets, providing information in under two minutes.
It will show you more about how your credit score was determined, what is most impacting your score and how you can increase it.
6. Pioneer CreditConnect
Using Experian, Pioneer offers a fast credit score, claiming that you will have access to your score in only 60 seconds.
In addition, this site provides an array of tools to help you see how financial changes could affect your score.
7. Credit Simple
Credit Simple gives you a credit report complete with helpful graphs and charts to see how your credit compares to others’ scores.
It also offers free access to Money Simple, which helps you track your money usage, as well as credit check options for your business.
8. CheckYourCredit
CheckYourCredit also provides a free report if you are willing to wait three days to view it online.
If you want to receive it in the mail, you will need to wait even longer. However, the site also offers options to check business credit.
9. OnDeck
OnDeck is used solely for checking your business credit score and takes only 60 seconds to complete.
Your business must have a registered business name and credit activity for you to see the score taken from Equifax.
10 CheckMyFile
Although CheckMyFile may not have all the bells and whistles that some of these other sites do, it still provides the same result, using information from Equifax to compile your credit scores.
However, you should note that you will receive only a 30-day free trial and will need to make sure you cancel the service before your trial period is up to avoid being charged.
Summary
Because Equifax and Experian are two of the leading credit reporting agencies in Australia, it may be best to start with them when looking for your free credit score. Clearly, of the two, Equifax keeps the process as simple as possible. If you want access to products tailored to your financial needs, check out one of the other eight options in the future.
