Consumer Watch: Tracking Your Credit With Free Apps

Personal finance and credit monitoring apps can be quite a great tool as part of your financial tool box. The personal finance experts at The Penny Hoarder tell Fox 25 Consumer Watch what to consider when you want to create that credit rating move up. Some free app favorites include Credit Karma, which tracks TransUnion and Equifax scores, and Credit Sesame, which tracks Experian.



“Just being a reputation, you'll be able to break it in a very second, nonetheless it takes 12 to 18 months to create it again. So, notably if you want to bring your score up 200 points if not more, be prepared to be working into it for 12 to eighteen months,” says Jen Smith, personal finance expert at The Penny Hoarder. Though big moves will take a year, steady improvements you can get to an average credit standing fast.



The fastest way to create a change for that better would be to check your directory your favorite free app, in case there are errors, dispute them. Disputes can take place at a push of a mouse button through the apps, and you may start an investigation in to a mistake. “If you do not have any errors, then your most heavily weighted portion of your credit rating is payment history,” says Smith. Playing it can be is important.

Your credit rating is broken into parts: life of credit, payment history, and debt to free credit ratio. Payment history is heavily weighted in how your score is established, in order that is a good location to focus. Do this by letting current on late payments, and be sure you prioritize paying your bills promptly.