You’ve heard of plenty of credit score tools: Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, Mint, and more. But what if there was a way to do even more with your score? What if there were even stronger tools you could use to improve your score, track your progress, and master your money management?
This is the goal of SmartCredit. Do we think it’s worth it to spring on the paid tool? The short answer is yes.
What is SmartCredit?
SmartCredit is a product of ConsumerDirect designed to help consumers raise their credit scores. It does more than what free tools do. Here are the features that make it possible:
ScoreTracker
The ScoreTracker feature allows you to check on your credit score. Take a look at how your score has changed over the years and get a better idea of where you stand through easy-to-understand visuals.
ScoreBuilder™
ScoreBuilder gives you a personalized, 120-day plan for improving your credit score. That’s something a free tool definitely can’t do, and you’ll come out of it knowing much more about credit than you did before.
ScoreMaster®
The ScoreMaster tool and its unique features really raise the bar for credit monitoring tools. Get insight into the nuanced details of raising your credit score, like when it’s optimal to make your payments and apply for new cards or loans. You can even see how spending more or less money may affect your score.
Money Manager
Track your spending in the same place you work on your credit score. You can see what you spent on each card and what your balances are.
Smart Credit Report®
Your Smart Credit Report is like a credit report, but better. It integrates daily transactions, calculates an insurance score, and even shows what your possible hiring risk is if any employer runs a credit check on you in the future.
Fraud Insurance
Identity theft is running rampant lately. SmartCredit knows this, which is why they provide $1 million fraud insurance that covers everyone in your family who lives under your roof.
Extra: 3 Bureau Credit Report
For a small extra charge, you can get a full, 3-bureau credit report. You’ll know where you stand with every credit bureau! None of the free apps can do this.
How does SmartCredit work?
SmartCredit works by doing what’s called a “soft pull” of your credit. Unlike a “hard pull,” this doesn’t affect your credit report at all. Then, you can log in to your bank/credit card accounts through the SmartCredit site to connect the rest of your financial info. And don’t worry – it’s very secure.
SmartCredit Pros and Cons
Pros
It’s rare to find an app with so many credit and money management tools in one place. The action buttons that help you reach out to the companies storing your negative credit data are especially helpful.
There are also videos that guide you through different aspects of your credit and make sure you come out with better personal finance knowledge than you had before.
Cons
Although the desktop version of the SmartCredit site is user-friendly and easy to navigate, the app has a little more of a learning curve. If you’re used to only keeping track of your finances on your phone, this service may not be your favorite.
Additionally, although the product connects to most banks, our review team found that it doesn’t connect to some credit unions.
The bottom line
Overall, SmartCredit is a great option for anyone committed to not only raising their credit score, but also becoming credit-savvy. It boasts way more features than the free tools on the market, can help you manage your money in addition to all of that. SmartCredit could be the tool to help you take back control of your credit score – and your financial life.
To use all of these tools, there are a couple of different options for SmartCredit pricing:
- Basic Membership: $13.99 per month
- Gives you access to most tools, but limits actions and credit updates per month
- Premium Membership: $19.99 per month
- Unlimited updates, plus a once-monthly, 3-bureau credit report.
Important Update: Bureaus Offer Free Weekly Reports Through December 2023
In light of the unprecedented financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the credit bureaus have expanded free credit report access. You can now download your credit report from each bureau once per week through annualcreditreport.com.
We recommend taking advantage of these free weekly reports to check your credit often during this crisis, so you can avoid mistakes.
