Credit Karma Recommends Consumers Access Credit Scores at Least Once a Month to Track Improvement

Lapsed Bills and Identity Theft Can Impact Scores in the Short Term; Consumer Credit Resource Suggests Even More Rigorous Monitoring in Advance of Large Credit Purchases


SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - June 16, 2008) - As part of its ongoing effort to help consumers better understand and leverage their credit, Credit Karma (www.creditkarma.com), the free and easy way to access, understand and monetize credit scores, today recommended that consumers obtain their credit score at least once a month. The company also suggested that consumers obtain their scores twice a month in advance of a major credit purchase such as a home or automobile. A number of factors, including a missed bill payment or an incident of identity theft, can affect a credit score within a thirty-day window.

"Consumers know what a credit score is, but few actually understand how to put it to work on their behalf," explained Kenneth Lin, founder and CEO of Credit Karma. "An individual should be tracking their credit score from month-to-month, both to understand the impact of their financial behavior and to be better prepared to negotiate with lenders."

At CreditKarma.com, consumers can access their credit score as often as they need, completely free of charge. The company has built a suite of online tools and simulators to help consumers understand how specific behaviors such as opening or closing a line of credit can improve a credit score over time. Credit Karma also helps consumers learn how to leverage their score through Karma Offers, where advertisers provide preferred pricing to individuals based on the strength of their score.

"The most important part of a credit score for consumers is not the actual number, but rather how it behaves over time -- whether it continues to improve or decline," continued Mr. Lin. "That is why we have guaranteed individuals the ability to access their score for free whenever they need it -- so that, in the end, they might become better consumers."

As a staunchly pro-consumer company, Credit Karma never shares consumers' personal information with advertisers or third parties.

About Credit Karma

Based in San Francisco, Credit Karma is a pro-consumer credit score company dedicated to helping consumers better understand the power of their credit score by giving them completely free access to it as often as they wish, and then providing a host of tools and services to help them improve and monetize that score. At www.creditkarma.com, consumers not only learn their score, but they can identify what behaviors will positively impact their score and then gain preferred product pricing based on their credit score range.

Contact Information: Press Contact: Michael Azzano Cosmo PR for Credit Karma 415.596.1978