Intuit Credit Karma
The belief of Credit Karma is simple: "Consumers have a right to know this information with no charge or without the bait and switch of 30 days free followed by enrollment products with confusing opt out." For this I say a strong amen.
San Francisco-based Credit Karma Inc., which tracks such things, said credit card debt rose 4 percent across the country from October to November, and 14 percent since June.
Credit Karma is truly free and a very valuable resource to help you improve and maintain your credit score.
Here's how high that mountain is, courtesy of Credit Karma, which looked at 1,150 consumer credit reports from TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus.
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."