Credit Karma

Credit Karma

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Overall Rating1.9 out of 5
See all 668 reviews & ratings

About Credit Karma

Credit Karma is a finance website that offers free services to consumers and provides credit scores and credit reports. Credit Karma designed its financial education resources to help you better understand and manage your finances, from tax filing to finding the right credit card company.

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Financial tools available
  • Tax filing assistance
  • Offers free credit reports
  • Financial education resources

Cons

  • Doesn’t include Experian
  • May not be 100% accurate

Bottom Line

Credit Karma has much to offer for a free credit report service, including tax filing services. While it doesn’t include Experian credit reporting, its tools are still useful for people looking to improve their finances.

Featured Reviews

Verified
Ruskin , FL

Never knew Credit Karma had a tax service. It was so easy to use and free! I even did my taxes in a "pay for program" (to compare the totals) and got the same result so knew it wa...

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Verified
Eagle Pass, TX

The Credit Karma helps keep track of your credit report. Also offers free tax service with help if you are audited. I would suggest everyone try this service as it's all at no cos...

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What is Credit Karma?

Credit Karma lets you check your credit score anytime and anywhere. The company also helps you simulate changes to your credit score by weighing your outstanding credit card balances, length of credit history, payment history, types of credit accounts and applications for new credit accounts. The company gives people access to their credit score and credit report from TransUnion and Equifax and provides weekly updates and product recommendations.

How does Credit Karma work?

Credit Karma members receive free credit monitoring and financial tools as well as access to thousands of customer reviews on products Credit Karma recommends, including credit cards and loans. Available financial tools include a credit score simulator, debt repayment calculator, simple loan calculator and amortization calculator.

Through Credit Karma, consumers can apply for any of the following credit card options:

  • Balance transfer cards
  • Reward cards
  • Travel cards
  • Cash back cards
  • 0% APR cards
  • Business cards
  • Cards for fair credit
  • Cards for bad credit

Credit Karma also helps members file their taxes and find personal, home and auto loans.

Is Credit Karma free?

Credit Karma’s services are free. The company will never ask for your credit card information. Credit reports, financial tools and tax filing services are free with Credit Karma.

There are financial products available from banks and lenders on its site, which is how Credit Karma makes its money. Credit Karma receives payment from its partners if you purchase one of the products the company recommends.

Credit Karma FAQ

Is it safe to use Credit Karma?

Credit Karma has a dedicated security system and bug bounty program to help protect the data on its site, and it uses 128-bit encryption to protect users. Additionally, the company promises to never share or sell your personal information to third parties without your consent.

Are the credit scores on Credit Karma accurate?

Credit Karma reports include credit scores and information from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major credit bureaus. It does not use Experian, the third major credit bureau, so the reported score may not be 100% accurate.

Has Credit Karma been hacked?

The company did experience a technical malfunction in August 2019, but there was no confirmation of a data breach.

How much is Credit Karma?

Credit Karma’s services are free to consumers. The site makes money when people purchase financial products from other banks or lenders on its website.

Is Credit Karma safe?

Because Credit Karma offers free extensive financial resources and helps people understand their credit reports and credit scores, we think it’s a good service — even though it doesn’t have reporting from one of the three major credit bureaus. We recommend Credit Karma for its free financial tools, resources and tax filing capabilities.

Credit Karma Reviews

ConsumerAffairs has collected 668 reviews and 1,206 ratings.

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Page 1 Reviews 0 - 10

Reviewed Sept. 20, 2023

Great way to see accounts and balances but horrible advice. I didn’t have a credit card and it said get a credit card and keep it paid off and your credit score will go up. That’s what I’m doing. My credit score dropped 36 points even though I pay it off every month.

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Sales & Marketing

Reviewed Aug. 31, 2023

Credit Karma is a Scam! I just checked my Transunion and it's 40 pts above what Credit Karma says.. They are way off on my history and my Home equity. What they do is make money off personal loans and credit cards making you think you have bad credit so you apply for these scams.. I caught on to them a long time ago. They have a list of the so called CEOs etc on their page.. My advice is stay well away from them.. They have a deceptive practice.. If you want your scores get them from the correct Source.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer Service

    Reviewed Aug. 29, 2023

    It boasts, the credit card it suggested will be approved or it guarantee some token amount. The card applied denied. When contacted Credit Karma response was poor. No reply to our email. No commitment.

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    Punctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 18, 2023

    Credit Karma has a client who offers personal loans...Opportun. Opportun has a form on Credit Karma's website. In August 2023 (not sure of the exact date) I filled out Opportun's form to apply for a loan...and I discovered that... towards the end, Opportun asks me for my login I.D. and password that I use to login to my bank account. I immediately stopped... It bugged me..so I tried again a few days later to see if I read it right... I did. I contacted Credit Karma twice...via online chat...to express my concern. Both times, they shrugged me off and said "contact Opportun."

    My requests to speak with a Supervisor were ignored and I was abruptly disconnected from the chat both times. The only thing a lender needs is my Credit report...and my bank's routing and account number... The login i.d. and password I use to login to my bank account is nobody's business under any circumstance. I am upset that Credit Karma employees shrugged me off instead of agreeing with my concern and putting a stop to it.

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    PricePunctuality & SpeedReliability

    Reviewed Aug. 5, 2023

    Credit Karma advertised on my page the following: "We think you could lower your 8.06% APR to 2.14%." I checked their offers and found one for 3.5% and applied. I received a hard hit on my credit only to find out the best the lender could do was 7% despite my excellent credit and multiple funding sources. The lender also informed me that Credit Karma does not always pull the current interest rates and the rate CK quoted did not reflect the present rate hike. I checked two days later and CK is still touting the same information. It is my opinion the information that CK reports is inaccurate and unreliable. You are better off getting a loan through a credit union or trusted source.

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    Staff

    Reviewed Aug. 3, 2023

    Very polite. Very courteous. Very helpful. Very patient. Took his time and explained everything to me in very detailed. Went through my entire credit report with me I had a hacker open up a Capital One credit card and put me down as a authorized user. I had no idea. Didn't pay on two of the cards for over 6 months. I found this out when I was in the process of buying another house and I had just sold mine. Credit score was too low to qualify for the mortgage. Had to rent for a year. Had to hire them.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 22, 2023

    There is no way to contact the fraud department directly!!! You can only reach those in charge of customer service, and THAT'S IT!. TWO WEEKS AGO I submitted a claim because I received a wire transfer from a place I did not recognize. A wire transfer implies they have my account and routing number. So, since it was unfamiliar I reported it. I hear nothing back from them so I start looking into it myself. If they couldn't figure it out, then I was going to... Anyway, I find out the money is actually a deposit of money I gained through ad revenue on a site I own, but haven't worked on in two years. It is set up so that once a certain amount of money is earned it deposits. It's an inactive site, but it still gets clicks. So, it took a long time before I generated enough money to be deposited automatically.. Yay. Mystery solved.

    I submit all the necessary PROOF of this and ask for the claim to be removed... I hear nothing back... Nothing... And I can't reach out to anyone to get answers about this. Not even a supervisor is capable of giving me answers... This is all so confusing. I've banked elsewhere before. There was a time my mom and I got our cards mixed up. We even have the same pin. She used my card and since I didn't recognize the charges, I reported them. When my mom and I realized our mix up, I called the bank, they closed to dispute, and I was able to access my entire account and card IMMEDIATELY after hanging up? It's been TWO WEEKS and I still can't access my own money?? What happens if this lasts another week? How am I gonna pay my rent with a locked frozen account?

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    Reviewed July 15, 2023

    Credit Karma reports my Equifax & TransUnion score change multiple times a month, which makes absolutely no sense. A creditor needs to file a new report in order for there to be a change. Not with Credit Karma. They just randomly make score changes without creditors filing new reports. My Experian credit report updates once or twice a month, usually a day or 2 after my credit card and car loan due dates. My Experian credit score has been the same thing for 2 weeks, not my Equifax or TransUnion score. Those scores change almost every other day (literally). I don’t have that much activity taking place on my credit report for Credit Karma to be making multiple changes throughout the month. I’m purchasing a house. Thank God the lender only uses Experian.

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    Reviewed July 8, 2023

    I've gotten increasingly irritated with Credit Karma over the past few months. I monitor my scores pretty diligently. I went in to see what my scores were recently and found one set dropped 27 points. I was like what??? I looked up the supposed reason for a 27-point drop and it was because I paid off a high-balance credit card!!! My score took a huge hit because I paid off a credit card??? Gees, when the other things register that I paid off at this rate, I'll have a nonexistent credit rating by Credit Karma's standards. I seriously doubt they are reporting accurate credit scores. It's very disappointing that a business that's supposed to be there to help you, is actually detrimental. Extremely disappointed in the service and don't feel like it can be trusted any longer...

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    Reviewed June 19, 2023

    Over the last 10 years we’ve noticed Credit Karma docks credit ratings in double digit increments then very, very slowly builds them back up in single digit increments even when you consistently pay credit cards off in full each & every month. They don't check balances frequently or consistently like Experian. It appears Credit Karma works to keep credit ratings low so lenders can charge customers more. Note: Experian doesn't dock credit as severely as Credit Karma.

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    Credit Karma Company Information

    Company Name:
    Credit Karma
    Website:
    www.creditkarma.com