The $342 million NorthCountry FCU of South Burlington, Vt., and the $877 million A+ FCU in Austin, Texas, have signed on to offer their members a free system of new credit scores through their home banking sites.
The Free Credit Score for Members Service is from Credit Karma Inc. in San Francisco. The company said it now works with just more than a dozen credit unions and partners to offer the “private-branded, white-label, free credit score service.”
“Through a member-centric approach, Credit Karma’s service provides a monthly credit score and a suite of personalized credit management tools. The tools enable members to access their credit scores, easily digest information on credit scoring, empower informed financial decisions, and put their credit to work to get the best products for their credit profile,” the company said.
A+ FCU said more than 3,500 members have signed up to use the service – which assigns credit scores as “A” to “F” letter grades – since it was launched about three weeks ago, said its vice president of marketing, Stan Cowan.
Bob Morgan, executive vice president of lending at NorthCountry FCU, said, “The ability to forecast the effect of opening new credit, paying off a balance, or missing a payment can help them avoid costly consequences, such as higher interest rates or loan denials. My Credit Score (NorthCountry’s branded name for the service) lets members test credit decisions in a virtual environment, and then decide how to proceed.”
