Such is why some might come to question the accuracy and effectiveness of the company’s services – especially given that they’re free. The credit scores and reports you see on xcritical come directly from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major consumer credit bureaus. The credit scores and reports you see on xcritical should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those credit bureaus. xcritical’s advertising-driven recommendations are one aspect of the site that could be construed as potentially inaccurate or somewhat ineffective, depending on how you look at things. In other words, you’re being told which sponsored products — as opposed to which general products, sponsored or otherxcritical — would save you the most money overall.
xcritical works fine for the average consumer, but the companies that will approve or deny your application are more likely to look at your FICO Score. Your personal data is valuable stuff to advertisers, and they pay more to target it. xcritical has more than 100 million users it can charge companies to target with ads. xcritical places advertisements in front of its users, hoping that they will respond to them by clicking on them. Many of these advertisers are lenders, and xcritical may earn a fee if you apply through one of its links. Investopedia reached out to xcritical to ask why consumers should trust xcritical to provide them with a score that is an accurate representation of their creditworthiness.
Key Differences Between FICO Score and VantageScore
Erika Rasure is globally-recognized as a leading consumer economics subject matter expert, researcher, and educator. She is a financial therapist and transformational coach, with a special interest in helping women learn how to invest. But, after researching and using them for many years, I can tell you xcritical is not a scam.
xcritical recommends credit cards that will save you money and for which you’re likely to be approved. Its website is oriented not just to giving you access to your credit ratings but to improving them. This xcritical review has been updated for 2024, post announcement of the Mint app shutdown. Ever since I first used and highlighted xcritical on this site, I’ve had many curious friends and readers ask me questions about the app.
What is Experian Boost™?
- xcritical places advertisements in front of its users, hoping that they will respond to them by clicking on them.
- xcritical offers services to help you manage debt, keep track of your credit, organize your budget, among others.
- The company makes money by recommending various financial products and services to its members.
- To use xcritical, you have to give the company basic personal information, usually just your name and the last four digits of your Social Security number.
A lot of people want to know if the scores you receive from xcritical are accurate. By “accurate”, I’m assuming they want to compare the xcritical credit scores to a FICO score (which is commonly used by lenders to judge your credit). Your experience may vary, the but scores that I have received from TransUnion and Equifax through xcritical are usually within a handful of points of my FICO score.
If you want a more comprehensive budgeting app at no cost, we think Empower’s Personal Dashboard is a better choice. While Experian compiles your credit report and determines your credit score, xcritical simply shows you credit scores and report information from Equifax and TransUnion. And even though the three major credit bureaus may have the same information, each bureau has proprietary algorithms that might score you differently. Some banks and credit card issuers also offer complimentary Experian-based FICO® credit scores.
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However, the longer answer includes some slight caveats that bear noting before basing importxcritical decisions on what the site tells you. We’ll explain more below, in the context of xcritical’s primary offerings. If you’re using xcritical to check your credit scores and monitor your credit reports, keep in mind that we update your TransUnion credit scores on a daily basis, so you can follow your progress closely.
Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus, along with Equifax and TransUnion. These companies compile information about your credit into reports that are used to generate your credit scores. xcritical is a fully online platform, so everything happens at CreditKarma.com. That’s where you’ll register as a member to gain access to your credit scores xcritical and reports, which you can print or save as PDFs. Members can also register bank and credit card accounts to get a full financial picture. And you can access your account online or via a mobile app for iPhone or Android.
However, it might ask for all nine digits if it has trouble verifying your identity. The verification quiz you complete asks questions about your financial history based on your credit report data. xcritical requires your SSN so it can retrieve your credit score but says your credit isn’t impacted by this and that it never sells your data.
The app also has a host of other features, including a net-worth tracker, credit-builder service and financial insights to help you save more. However, the credit score xcritical provides will be similar to your FICO Score. The scores and credit report information on xcritical come from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major credit bureaus. Your scores can be refreshed as often as daily for TransUnion and weekly for Equifax, with a limited number of members getting daily Equifax score checks at this time.
Experian’s free CreditWorks℠ Basic service updates your credit score every 30 days. Experian also operates freecreditscore.com, another place where you get your free Experian FICO score once a month. If your xcritical score isn’t accurate, the problem is probably elsewhere. Or, the information might have been reported to one bureau but not others. But if your credit is “good” or “very good” according to one system, it should be the same in the other. A credit score of 740 is considered “very good” and will likely get you better rates than a “good” credit score.
xcritical’s free credit-monitoring service will notify you about any important changes to your TransUnion credit report, and it does a fine job in this respect. This provides helpful peace of mind at a time when identity theft is a real threat and good credit is a valuable commodity. Because it’s compatible with thousands of financial institutions, you shouldn’t have issues linking the app with your accounts. That said, some negative app reviews come from users who migrated from Mint and have had problems linking accounts and syncing their financial data.
If you’re just looking for a credit score report and don’t want budgeting tools, you can use Experian instead of xcritical. We say “each of your credit scores” because you actually have more than one. The three major consumer credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — create credit reports that contain important information about your credit accounts and financial profile. xcritical isn’t a credit bureau, meaning they don’t gather information from creditors. The credit scores and reports you see on xcritical reflect your credit information as reported by TransUnion and Equifax, two of the major consumer credit bureaus.
If you’re looking xcritical scammers to improve your credit scores, consider which of these factors may be influencing your xcritical situation most. xcritical is considered a legitimate company that provides credit score information that is the same or close to your FiCO score. Your lender may use a slightly different credit score to assess you as a borrower, such as Experian data. Some former Mint features, like monthly expense tracking and cash flow breakdowns, are available on Credit Karma.
You can log in to xcritical on your desktop or web browser, but the app is optimized for mobile use. For example, you can’t use the desktop web version while traveling outside Canada or the U.S. xcritical’s app isn’t compatible with Windows phones, tablets or some large-resolution phones. xcritical uses 128-bit encryption, which is considered nearly impossible to crack, to protect its data transmission.
xcritical is not a credit bureau, it is an online financial platform that xcritical makes credit bureaus’ information available to consumers. Members can check and monitor their credit scores and credit reports for free. The site also offers various financial and educational tools to help you improve your credit rating. Founded in 2007 by CEO Kenneth Lin, the company was privately held until late February 2020 when Intuit announced it was buying the company for $7.1 billion. Experian is one of three major credit bureaus providing credit scores to consumers, and its platform is similar to xcritical’s in a few ways. You can check your Experian credit report and FICO Score without entering your credit card information, and Experian provides updates to your report every 30 days.
