http://thebestcompanys.com/credit-monitoring/company/credit-karma/ Credit Karma is a free credit monitoring service that provides customers with a secure way of understanding and managing their credit. Through data-driven resources, the experts at Credit Karma are equipped to help customers take control of their financial health

1. Credit Karma
Credit
Monitoring

2.
Credit
Karma
was
founded
in
2007
and
takes
an
en7rely
new
approach
to
offering
credit
monitoring
services.
Their
services
are
100%
free.
The
company
has
grown
to
serve
over
35
million
members.
Credit
Karma
is
based
in
San
Francisco
and
has
a
reported
250
employees.
All
of
the
company’s
revenue
is
ad-­‐generated
and
from
partners
on
its
website.

3.
Credit
Karma
does
not
offer
a
variety
of
plans,
and
their
single
plan
is
free
for
all
members.
There
is
no
plan
to
remove
free
pricing
at
any
future
date,
according
to
the
company.

4.
v
Scores
and
reports
can
be
updated
as
oLen
as
once
per
week
v
Free
daily
TransUnion
credit
monitoring
v
Track
credit
ac7vity
to
iden7fy
errors
or
poten7al
iden7ty
theL
v
Set
goals
to
pay
off
debt
with
Credit
Karma’s
repayment
calculator
v
Members
have
access
to
numerous
educa7onal
tools
v
Members
receive
financial
offers
which
are
custom-­‐tailored
to
their
goals
and
credit
score
v
Credit
score
simulator
allows
members
to
track
poten7al
changes
to
their
financial
status
(gePng
new
loans
or
credit
cards,
loans,
or
paying
off
debt)
and
how
these
behaviors
may
affect
their
credit
score

5.
Credit
Karma
has
one
of
the
best
credit
report
and
score
refresh
rates
in
the
industry
with
free
weekly
reports
and
scores
from
Equifax
and
TransUnion.
At
this
7me,
Credit
Karma
does
not
include
informa7on
from
Experian
or
the
FICO®
score.

6.
Members
of
Credit
Karma
can
monitor
their
credit
reports
regularly
and
receive
no7fica7ons
in
their
profile
when
there
are
significant
changes
to
their
credit
reports.

7.
Credit
Karma
offers
free
mobile
apps
for
Android
and
Apple
iOS
devices.
It
is
important
to
note
that
in
2014
a
government
ac7on
was
taken
against
Credit
Karma
for
these
apps
not
being
secure.
None
of
their
customers’
iden77es
were
reported
stolen
as
a
result
of
the
security
weakness,
however.
The
company
has
since
corrected
the
security
weakness
and
is
submiPng
to
independent
annual
audits
for
the
next
20
years
to
ensure
that
the
apps
remain
secure.

9. Credit
Karma
offers
their
customers
basic
credit
monitoring
without
charge.
These
services
are
not
as
automated
as
many
of
the
compe7tors
and
require
that
customers
do
some
form
of
self-­‐monitoring,
but
the
trade-­‐off
for
the
price
can
save
hundreds
of
dollars
per
year
in
comparison
to
the
compe7tors.
Credit
Karma
offers
extensive
educa7onal
resources
for
both
their
members
and
just
those
who
are
looking
for
more
informa7on
about
credit
and
seeking
to
improve
their
financial
situa7on
or
decisions.
Credit
Karma’s
partners
send
members
offers
which
are
custom-­‐tailored
to
their
credit
score
and
history,
which
can
save
7me
and
help
members
maintain
their
credit
score
without
applying
for
several
credit
cards
or
loans
for
which
they
may
or
may
not
be
approved.

11.
Credit
Karma
has
had
problems
in
the
past
with
the
security
of
their
mobile
applica7ons.
While
these
have
been
resolved
to
the
sa7sfac7on
of
the
Federal
Trade
Commission,
Credit
Karma
is
required
to
maintain
transparency
for
the
next
20
years
with
audits
and
analysis
of
their
mobile
applica7ons.
Some
customers
may
be
concerned
with
this
past
issue
about
the
apps’
security.
Members
have
reported
receiving
many
offers
for
credit
cards
and
loans
aLer
signing
up
with
Credit
Karma.
The
funding
for
the
service
is
provided
by
revenue
generated
with
various
partners,
and
members
may
not
fully
opt-­‐out
of
these
communica7ons.
Addi7onally,
the
monitoring
is
not
as
automa7c
as
it
is
with
the
compe7tors,
meaning
that
alerts
are
sent
to
the
member’s
dashboard.
Rather
than
credit
reports
from
all
three
bureaus,
Credit
Karma
only
gives
access
to
two
of
the
three
and
the
score
is
not
a
FICO®
score
and
is
not
necessarily
the
score
which
lenders
use
to
evaluate
credit
worthiness.

12.
Credit
Karma
is
not
accredited
with
the
Be^er
Business
Bureau.
Such
accredita7on
is
100%
voluntary
in
all
industries
and
is
completed
at
the
request
of
the
company.
While
accredita7on
is
but
one
sign
that
the
company
has
a
commitment
to
customer
service,
there
are
several
concerns
which
Credit
Karma’s
C+
ra7ng
bring
to
mind.
One
can
understand
that
customers
are
frustrated
with
the
company’s
lack
of
phone
support,
and
this
is
clear
when
examining
the
complaints,
but
the
fact
that
the
complaints
which
have
been
filed
by
customers
are
spread
quite
evenly
between
problems
with
all
aspect
to
the
company’s
business
(adver7sing,
products
and
service,
delivery,
guarantee)
is
telling.
The
volume
of
complaints
to
the
BBB
for
a
free
product
is
also
revealing.
h^p://www.bbb.org/greater-­‐san-­‐francisco/business-­‐
reviews/credit-­‐services/credit-­‐karma-­‐in-­‐san-­‐francisco-­‐ca-­‐295805

14. The
services
offered
by
Credit
Karma
are
helpful
and
offer
consumers
an
op7on
to
high-­‐
priced
credit
monitoring
services,
which
can
save
them
hundreds
of
dollars
per
year.
Those
who
are
able
to
create
the
self-­‐discipline
to
self0monitor
and
use
the
tools
offered
at
Credit
Karma
will
find
the
service
to
be
a
great
help
to
them.
However,
those
lacking
the
self-­‐discipline
or
who
want
more
automa7c
monitoring
with
iden7ty
theL
insurance
protec7on
would
be
be^er
served
using
a
different
service.
There
are
several
good
aspects
to
Credit
Karma,
but
the
lack
of
phone
support
and
volume
of
complaints
with
the
BBB
for
a
free
product
are
reasons
that
one
should
be
aware
of
the
limita7ons
of
this
plan
before
becoming
a
member.