Citi to Offer Free FICO Score to Cardholders

Citi will offer access to your Equifax FICO score for free each month.
Erin El Issa
By Erin El Issa 
Published

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If you’re a CitiCard holder, you can get access to your Equifax FICO score for free each month.

Following in the steps of Barclaycard and Discover, Citi will offer cardholders online access to their Equifax FICO scores starting in January. This score will be updated monthly and is free to customers.

Credit card issuers are beginning to offer free credit scores because of pressure to do so from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, according to the Wall Street Journal. Your FICO credit score is important for a variety of reasons. A good score allows you to obtain credit at reasonable rates, land decent insurance rates and sign up for cell phone plans. You can also purchase your FICO score from each of the three credit bureaus.

I don’t have a CitiCard, but I want a free score — what are my options?

If you’re looking for a new credit card, you could consider one of the options that Citi has to offer. All consumer and student CitiCards come chip-enabled. Here's our favorite Citi rewards card:

Citi Double Cash® Card

Citi® Double Cash Card
NerdWallet rating 

The Citi Double Cash® Card offers 1% cash back when you make purchases, and another 1% back when you pay them off — incentivizing responsible credit card usage. The annual fee is $0, but there are foreign transaction fees of 3% — so this isn’t an ideal card for overseas travel. That said, it offers one of the best rewards rates on the market. Plus, it comes with an introductory APR of 0% intro APR on Balance Transfers for 18 months, and then the ongoing APR of 19.24%-29.24% Variable APR.

If you don’t want a CitiCard, you can get your free FICO score from several credit card issuers — including Discover, Barclaycard and First National Bank of Omaha. You may also be able to get your free FICO score if you have a student or auto loan. Keep in mind, there are many free score services out there, but potential lenders are typically only interested in your FICO score, so always make sure you’re checking the right score.

Bottom line: Your credit reports are available for free annually — and now your credit score may be free monthly. Keep an eye out for your free FICO score on your online Citi account beginning in January. If you don't have a CitiCard yet, check out your options here. Otherwise, seek out your free credit score with another issuer that offers that benefit.

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