A growing number of credit card issuers are betting you’ll open an account if they offer to show you your credit score. Consumers can always buy a copy of their FICO credit score. It costs about $60 to purchase your FICO credit score and a copy of your full credit report from the three credit bureaus.

You can get a free copy of your credit report from each of the three bureaus once a year. To order, visit annualcreditreport.com. Type carefully. Impostor sites set up on similar sounding and misspelled versions of that website. You can instead call (877) 322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.

A credit score is a number that sums up all the information in your credit histories. It isn’t included in the once-a-year free copy of your credit report that you can order from the bureaus.

Where To Get Free Credit Score

Several credit card issuers, including Discover, Barclaycard US and First Bankcard, now include free access to your credit score. Several more lenders say they will do the same:

  • Bank of America (credit card customers)
  • USAA (credit card customers)
  • JPMorgan Chase (Slate credit card)
  • Citigroup
  • Ally Financial (auto-loan customers)

Some of those lenders will restrict who gets the free score. Ally, for example, will only share a free credit score with its online customers and those who use its apps.

You don’t have to open a new credit card account to see your credit score.

Credit.com, CreditSesame.com and CreditKarma.com will give you a credit score (without making you pay for credit monitoring services as some other sites do). CreditKarma offers Equifax credit scores and reports from two of the three bureaus.

The score you get on those sites can be different from your FICO score and from the credit scores used by mortgage companies, auto dealers and other types of lenders.

Need help boosting your credit score so you can buy a home or refinance your current mortgage at the best possible rate? Contact me and I’ll refer you to an excellent loan officer who can help.