Not many people know that Discover offers a free FICO score even if you’re not a cardholder!
This is another great way to check your credit score for free and an excellent tool to keep track of your credit health.
But is the Discover card FICO score accurate?
This blog post will explore the Discover Credit Scorecard and the accuracy of the FICO score you get with it.
How Accurate is Your FICO Score from Discover?
The Free FICO score you get with a Discover card is accurate and the same score you would get directly from Experian or TransUnion.
I recently signed up for both the Discover Scorecard and the Free Experian account and compared them to each other. I can verify that both FICO scores are identical and up-to-date!
Although Discover Scorecard provided me with more information about my credit history, the FICO score was the same as Experian.
How to Get Your FICO Score From Discover?
Discover has a program called “Credit Scorecard” that anyone can sign up for free of charge. There are no strings attached to this service, so it’s worth signing up for even if you don’t have a Discover card.
You can sign up using following link: Discover Credit Scorecard
What Do You Get With a Discover Credit Scorecard Account?
There are several reasons to sign-up for the Discover Credit Scorecard.
Free FICO Score- The most common reason people sign-up is to check their FICO score for free. You can check it directly from Experian, but you won’t get any of the other features Discover provides.
Credit History- Another reason people sign-up for the Credit Scorecard is to check their account history. This feature is similar to a personal credit report and is very useful for seeing how much debt and responsibilities you may not be aware of.
Credit Alerts- The Credit Scorecard provides users with alerts when certain activities take place on their accounts. This can be helpful if someone is trying to open a new account in your name, but it does have its limitations which will be discussed later.
Social Security Number Alerts- This feature will notify the user whenever their Social Security Number is used on any other accounts. This can happen in the event of identity theft, but it’s also useful for monitoring suspicious activity on your credit report (ex: someone trying to open an account using your SSN).
New Account Alerts- The final alert you may receive will be when a new account has been opened. I’ve tried it out and a new account will show up within an hour even if you opened it yourself.
How Does Discover Provide a Free Credit Score?
Discover provides your FICO score for free because they can use the “educational” version of the Experian FICO scores, which are different from what lenders typically see. These educational versions do not affect your credit scores.
The educational score offered by Discover is still very helpful for monitoring your credit scores.
If you already have a free Experian account and are looking for a more in-depth credit history, then signing up for a Discover Credit Scorecard is perfect for you.
Simple Tips for Improving Your Credit Scores
For anyone looking to improve their credit scores, I have put together some simple tips you can do on your own:
Pay all of your bills on time- This one ties into the previous tip and is just as important for improving credit scores. If you can’t keep up with payments consistently, it’s going to hurt any kind of potential progress that might have been made.
Don’t ask for a credit limit increase- This is another tip that’s easy to understand, yet people often forget about it when they’re trying to improve their FICO scores. The more you open new accounts and raise your limits with them, the lower your score will be because of potential risk factors involved in this behavior.
Cancel unused cards- This tip is great for people who have a lot of credit card accounts open. Having an account open and not using it increases the risk associated with those accounts, so I recommend canceling as many as possible if you’re trying to increase your FICO scores.
Monitor your credit report- The final tip I have for you is to monitor your credit reports. If there are problems, it’s better if you can find out about them before lenders do!
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to check your FICO score and the Discover Credit Scorecard is both easy and accurate. Not only is it free, but you also get several other features that can help you monitor and work on improving your credit.