Intuit Credit Karma
You can track your score for free using a site like CreditKarma.com, which can help you figure out how their debt is affecting their credit score. This can help a consumer determine what debts or credit cards need to be paid off first.
The Credit Karma score serves the purpose of analyzing your credit to point out areas of concern and to show you places where you can improve your credit.
"The seasonal aspect can be pretty strong," Ken Lin, the founder of Credit Karma, told MarketWatch. "Consumer spending is so much higher in the fourth quarter than any other quarter of the year."
Recent data from two credit card tracking firms, Synovate Mail Monitor and Credit Karma, shows that with the holiday season approaching, average credit card balances for October increased as consumers who had earlier kept their wallets shut, now used their credit cards to make new purchases.
"The seasonal aspect can be pretty strong," said Ken Lin, founder of Credit Karma. "Consumer spending is so much higher in the fourth quarter than any other quarter of the year."
Credit Karma CEO Ken Lin said the rise shows "consumers are feeling more confident about spending money again ahead of the holidays."
CreditKarma.com gives you a credit score based on data on your TransUnion credit report. It also gives consumers the ability to simulate certain actions, such as applying for a new credit card and paying off debt, and see how those moves would affect their score.
Credit Karma, a San Francisco firm that tracks and provides credit scores, reported that nationwide from June through September, 39% of credit scores increased, 29% decreased and 32% remained the same.
We all like free, so enter Credit Karma, a site that gives you your credit score <strong>free of charge</strong> and it takes a whole two minutes or so to sign up, see your score, and get a letter grade in various categories, including the following...
Kiplinger interviews Ken Lin, chief executive of Credit Karma, on what consumers need to know about credit cards now.