Quick Review: Free Credit Grade at KnowBeforeYouApply.com
Posted by Cap in Credit Related , Reviews on October 9, 2008 |
If you don’t want to deal with the process of researching your credit worthiness before you apply for credit, this new service may just be what you’re looking for.
A fitting name for the service, as it gets you a credit “grade” in seconds, then provides you with a list of credit cards and home loans that you may qualify for (home loan portion didn’t seem to work for me when I tried this). Click on the picture above to see a snapshot.
Launched just recently in early September 2008, KnowBeforeYouApply.com is owned by Centrro Inc., a financial-search company founded in 2006, with one of the founder being the creator of the website OSpace, one of the first internet provider of credit reports back in 1997 (the service was later acquired by Experian).
Cliff Notes:
- You’ll have to provide your personal information: name, address, and last 4 digit of your SSN to do the credit pull.
- The credit pull is done on your behalf so it won’t lower your credit score.
- You can receive free monthly credit “grade” rating if you invite three friends to join (otherwise updated every 90 days).
- KnowBeforeYouApply doesn’t mention which of the three (or all) credit bureaus it use to pull your report.
- Offers presented doesn’t guaranteed approval. Remember, just because you have a high credit score/rating from whatever party that provides it (this includes a real FICO score), other factors are involved in granting credit (especially installment loans such as home or auto loans).
Pros:
- No need to provide your full social security number to use the service.
- Quick and easy, does exactly what it says.
- Free avenue to track your general credit worthiness movement.
- Useful place to drop by to have an additional peace of mind before you apply for credit.
Cons:
- Personal information on yet another website.
- Offers may not tailor specifically to your needs, so you should still do your own research.
Similar Services:
- BillShrink.com Reviewed
- Quizzle.com Reviewed
- CreditKarma.com (will post review on this soon)
8 Comments to “Quick Review: Free Credit Grade at KnowBeforeYouApply.com”
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October 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am
I gave this a try just to see…and it couldn’t find anything about me…ever.
So I guess not everyone can use it.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
It worked well for me and said what I already knew and I was surprised at it’s speed.
October 9th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Todd: I think if you have a credit freeze or fraud alert placed on your credit, KBYA may not be able to get your information from the credit bureaus. Also, if you have recently moved, what you put into the form may be different from what the credit bureaus have on file.
However, if you have no trouble accessing your credit report from http://www.annualfreecreditreport.com then I’m not too sure what the problem is.
savergirl: yeah I was pleasantly surprised by the speed and ease of use. no long hoops to jump through or the usual “would you like to buy a credit score with this?” add-on sales when I pull a credit. course this is a different type of website so yeah.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Did you read the privacy policy, by submitting your information they can give your info to their agents to see if you qualify, etc. I get enough applications in the mail and via web as it is.
October 10th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Fascinating — seems like an interesting site. Even though you only need to provide your last four of your SSN, are they able to get the rest when they pull the soft report? I guess I’m just weary of providing sensitive information of any sort to a startup website…
It definitely seems like a very sharp “web2.0″ type website, though.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
“The credit pull is done on your behind” Hahahaha! That is some service…
October 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
haha. woops. fixed.
was thinking unsavory thoughts while writing this I guess.
October 10th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
btw Junkmail: I did read the privacy policy and from what I gather, their agents are whatever services they use to get the credit report/score necessary to match you with offers. They specifically stated that these agents wont sell or share your personal information. I doubt (although its possible) that you’ll receive additional mailers from using this service. They do send you offers by email but that option is turned off in profile by default.
If you want to lighten your credit card offers, you can simply use https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ to opt out. Be aware that institutions that already have relationship with you may still mail you offers though.