Credit Sesame Review: It’s Useful, But There Are Better Options Available
Trying to make the most of credit sesame review useful? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.
Key Takeaways
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- This is my review of Credit Sesame, the popular free credit score and credit analysis tool. In this review, I’ll cover: A review of th...
This is my review of Credit Sesame, the popular free credit score and credit analysis tool.
In this review, I’ll cover:
- A review of the most useful tools Credit Sesame offers.
- Eight things to know about Credit Sesame before signing up.
- Its best and worst features.
- How it compares to Credit Karma and other similar services.
Let’s jump right in.
4.5/5Credit Sesame has a variety of useful and free tools to help you proactively manage your credit. The most beneficial of these include free access to your credit score, personalized suggestions for improving your score, and identity monitoring. While Credit Sesame does offer premium tools , such as access to all three of your credit reports , we don’t think these services are worth the cost. We recommend having at least one app that lets you you monitor your score and get alerts when your credit report changes, and although Credit Sesame isn't as robust as Credit Karma, the free version will satisfy the needs of most users.
Pros:- The service’s most useful features are free.
- Provides $50,000 worth of identity insurance at no cost.
- Provides viable suggestions for improving your credit score.
- Only shows your VantageScore, which is not widely used by lenders.
- The service’s premium upgrades are not worth the cost.
- The product recommendations are limited to Credit Sesame’s partners.
Table of Contents
Toggle8 Things to Know About Credit Sesame Before Signing Up
- It really is free. The service provides free credit monitoring alerts and monthly updates to your credit score (from TransUnion) for free. There’s no catch, and you don’t have to enter your credit card information to access these features.
- You’re getting access to your VantageScore (via TransUnion). As a free user, you’ll only get access to your VantageScore, which is not the same as the FICO credit score used by most lenders to make credit decisions.
- The $50,000 of identity insurance is a very nice perk. This insurance covers your expenses and legal costs if your identity gets stolen.
- The last four digits of your Social Security number are required to sign up. In addition, you’ll need to provide your name, address and date of birth.
- The advice and suggestions are helpful but basic. Credit Sesame offers a number of recommendations based on the information it gets from your credit history , most notably, advice for increasing your credit score. These recommendations don’t include advanced strategies, but they can provide direction for people who don’t fully understand the factors that go into their score.
- They prioritize partner offers. Credit Sesame offers financial product recommendations from credit card companies, loan providers, insurance companies and more. These recommendations are limited to Credit Sesame’s partners, and they earn money when they refer you.
- You can frequently find better offers elsewhere. Surprisingly, I already had some of the products offered to me, such as the Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card. Others, like the Walmart rewards credit card, made little sense based on my spending habits (since I rarely shop at Walmart). Overall, I didn’t find the offers very helpful, especially since I had granted Credit Sesame access to my credit history. More frequently than not, you’ll be able to find better products elsewhere.
- The premium upgrades are not worth the cost. As an example, one perk of upgrading is monthly updates to your Equifax, Experian and TransUnion credit scores and reports. You can access these reports for free at annualcreditreport.com, and it’s unlikely that you’d need access to all three on a monthly basis.
Credit Sesame Basics
Credit Sesame is a free service (with paid options) aimed at people who want guidance for improving their personal finances, with an emphasis on raising their credit score.
It offers several tools to help you boost your credit score, clean up your credit report, save money, and even protect you from identity theft. In particular, Credit Sesame lets you check a version of your credit score and provides you with a credit report card that offers suggestions for improving it.
The paid plans offer extra features, such as help with disputing erroneous credit report items and additional forms of identity theft monitoring.
Credit Sesame also uses your credit and financial information to recommend financial products like loans and credit cards that can help you save money and build your credit.
Credit Sesame’s Key Features
- Credit improvement tools: Credit Sesame shows you a version of your credit score (it’s not a FICO score), offers a report card illustrating your score in each of the five credit factors, and provides credit monitoring and alerts.
- Identity protection and identity theft insurance: You get $50,000 of identity theft insurance ($1 million for premium members) alongside alerts regarding credit report changes to protect you against identity fraud.
- Sesame Cash account: A fee-free cash management account (i.e., a digital checking account). You can also earn cash-back at various retailers by spending with your Sesame Cash debit card.
- Personalized product recommendations: Credit Sesame recommends loans, credit cards and more that it thinks you can qualify for based on your credit score and report. As noted earlier in the review, we’ve found these recommendations to be relatively unhelpful.
Free and Paid Versions
Credit Sesame offers a free plan, but you can also upgrade to one of two paid tiers, named Advanced and Platinum.
Credit Sesame’s three membership tiers.Final Thoughts
Before you check out, double-check credit sesame review useful against current offers and any coupons you can stack. Small habits like this add up to real savings over a year.
Originally published at thewaystowealth.com.
R.J. Weiss
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