A Review of myFICO

Overall Ranking

4.5/5

Overview

Comprehensive Credit Picture

5/5

Credit Monitoring

5/5

Cost

3/5

View FICO Scores

5/5

Identity Theft Monitoring

5/5

MyFICO is the way consumers get access to their real FICO score. In this myFICO revew, we examine the product, including the cost and types of credit scores offered.

Editor's Note

You can trust the integrity of our balanced, independent financial advice. We may, however, receive compensation from the issuers of some products mentioned in this article. Opinions are the author's alone. This content has not been provided by, reviewed, approved or endorsed by any advertiser, unless otherwise noted below.

MyFICO, a division of Fair Isaac, is an excellent place to obtain and monitor your FICO scores. For new customers, myFICO offers a few options to obtain your FICO score online straight from the company that created the FICO score.

There are a couple of paid packages to choose from, depending on your credit tracking needs. Here is what myFICO has to offer:

FICO 3B Report (one-time report)

Get a one-time report from all three credit bureaus
Instantly access various scores and options, including those most commonly used for mortgage and auto lending, as well as the new FICO Score 9
$59.85 one-time cost.

FICO Essentials 1B (basic monthly tier)

Receive and access your initial report and scores immediately
Receive an updated report and scores monthly
Monitor your credit report at Equifax as well as your FICO 8 score
Access a number of score calculations, including the new FICO Score 9 and other mortgage/auto lending scores
Watch your Equifax progress with the FICO Score 8 historical tracking graph
Get notified when you reach your target score or when you qualify for a better interest rate
Receive alerts you when unexpected changes to your credit report cause your FICO score to drop
$19.95 one-time cost

FICO Ultimate 3B (upgraded monthly tier)

Receive and access your initial three reports and scores immediately
Receive updated reports and scores from all three bureaus quarterly
Monitor your credit reports at all three bureaus, as well as your FICO 8 score
Access a number of score calculations, including the new FICO Score 9 and other mortgage/auto lending scores
Watch your progress across all three bureaus with the FICO Score 8 historical tracking graph
Receive identity theft monitoring with your membership
$39.95/month

Both of the monthly service options also include the following features, standard:

Lost Wallet Protection: This provides coverage for credit cards, passports, military ID cards, travelers’ cheques, drivers’ licenses, checkbooks, insurance cards, and more. Restrictions may apply.
$1 Million Identity Theft Insurance: If you become a victim of identity theft, they’ll reimburse covered expenses related to credit restoration (this includes legal fees, lost wages, and more)--up to $1 million. See myFICO.com for more information.
24/7 Full-Service Identity Restoration: If an identity thief misuses your personal information, myFICO is available 24/7 to help. Their certified resolution specialists will help you every step of the way.

Pros and Cons

FICO Score Access
Credit Monitoring
Identity Theft Monitoring

Cost

Seeing It All

One of the things I really like about myFICO.com is that it doesn’t just give you your score. The site also explains why your score is what it is (good or bad). This information can help you start the process of improving your score.

MyFICO.com will give you more information about each factor that is either helping or hurting your credit score. You also receive tips on how to improve those factors that may be keeping your FICO score down. For example, my score is impacted by past inquiries and my amount of debt/opened accounts. Both of these were identified by myFICO.com, which gives me a clear indication of what I need to work on if I want to improve my credit score.

You can also look within the report itself (not just the score) to see which items are impacting your report. myFICO will tell you exactly how negative or positive these individual accounts may be to your credit report as a whole.

Planning Ahead

Another great feature of myFICO.com is that they allow you to use their FICO Score Simulator to determine how future moves will impact your credit. This information can be really useful if you are looking to buy or refinance a home, get another credit card, or perhaps take out a car loan. You can see exactly how that new report will impact your score with each bureau.

Of course, you can get your free credit report from annualcreditreport.com, too. If it's just your credit report you're after, that's the place to go. But it's still nice to get your credit report along with your credit score at myFICO.com.

What’s particularly nice about myFICO.com, though, is that it presents your credit report in an easy-to-read and understand format. The site breaks down your credit report into five separate screens that cover the following topics:

Credit at a Glance
Accounts
Inquiries
Collections
Public Records

In addition to showing you any missed payments and length of credit history, it also shows your total debt, number of accounts opened, recent inquiries, and more. You then can easily move from page to page to see everything in your credit report.

When reviewing your report, it is important to carefully review the accounts section. This will show you if there are accounts opened that you don’t know about. It will also show you if any creditors have reported missed or late payments. If you think there is an error in your credit report, myFICO.com offers form letters you can use to dispute information in your report.

To get your FICO score and learn more about tracking your credit, check out the official myFICO site.