| Company |
Price |
Readability |
Human Touch |
Worst Feature |
Comment |
Fair, Isaac & Co.
myfico.com |
$12. 95 for an Equifax credit report and your personal FICO score (a number used by lenders to judge your credit worthiness). |
Clearest explanation of how the report affects your credit profile. Also includes a description of the FICO score and what it means for your borrowing ability. |
Accepts only e-mail queries. They responded to our question in 66 minutes - but basically said we need to contact the credit bureaus directly to fix mistakes or ask questions. |
Available only online; the company won't even mail a hard copy. A spokesman says most customers prefer it that way. |
A Must. Access to the FICO score is worth the price, though it would be nicer to have more personalized customer support. |
Trans Union
transunion.com |
$9 |
Well-organized. Also provides a FICO-like credit score - but it's not widely used in the industry. Offers the best explanation of who in the past has requested copies of your report, and why. |
Phone rep was curt, and also misidentified one of the companies that had previously requested a copy of our report. ( A spokesman says it was just a slipup.) |
The only provider that didn't omit our Social Security number for security reasons. (The company says it's reconsidering the policy.) |
The credit score is a helpful feature, even though it's
an in-house rating and not the more common FICO score used by most lenders. |
Annual Credit Reports
annualcreditreport.com |
need content |
need content |
need content |
need content |
need content |
Experian Information Solutions
(866) 200-6020
experian.com |
$9 |
Above average. Informative brochure tells how data are compiled and how long it remains in the file. (Watch out: Late payments stay there seven years.) |
Below average. Kept on hold 11 minutes, then told to call directory assistance to get the number of our credit-card company if we want to close the account. |
Booklet is poorly designed: Info from one account sometimes looks like it's part of another account. |
Satisfactory, but we wish they could have provided more help in tracking down the credit-card company we were trying to contact. |
Consumerlnfo.com
(a unit of Experian) |
Free - but you're automatically enrolled in a $79.95-a-year credit-monitoring service if you don't cancel within 30 days. |
Nice graphics make it one of the easier reports to digest quickly. |
Report said to call customer service - but didn't include the number. (It's 888-888-8553.) The courteous rep helped us cancel the extra service without a hassle. |
Doesn't list all the companies that have requested a credit history. |
A cheap way to get a basic credit report - but could be costly if you don't cancel the credit-monitoring service. |
Equifax
(800) 685-1111
equifax.com |
$9 | Perplexing at first glance - a jumble of numbers and abbreviations - but the enclosed key was helpful in deciphering. |
The automated phone system cut us off as we were ordering our report. Later, though, we stayed on hold less than two minutes and the rep was most helpful. |
Graphics could use work. Other providers use colorful symbols that help you read their charts at a glance. |
Confusing presentation. But had most responsive customer-service staff of the bunch. |
