1. CreditCreditCreditCredit SesameSesameSesameSesame ReviewReviewReviewReview
CreditCreditCreditCredit SesameSesameSesameSesame Review:Review:Review:Review: IsIsIsIs ItItItIt Safe,Safe,Safe,Safe, LegitLegitLegitLegit andandandand Accurate?Accurate?Accurate?Accurate?
With so many “free” credit score offers being peddled these days, it’s not always easy
to know which ones are legit and safe… and which ones are scams. How does
CreditSesame.com measure up?
WhatWhatWhatWhat isisisis CreditCreditCreditCredit Sesame?Sesame?Sesame?Sesame?
Launched back in 2010, they’re a venture-capital backed website that is touted as a
free tool for managing credit.
You register by filling out your personal information and Social Security number.
Once you do that, they come back and provide some info about your
creditworthiness (I’ll discuss that in a moment).
Is Credit Sesme really free? Yep… You won’t have to provide your credit card number
or pay anything to use the service.
Obviously though, they have to pay for the service somehow and they do that be
providing sponsored offers for mortgage refinancing, credit cards, loans, etc.
MyMyMyMy personalpersonalpersonalpersonal reviewreviewreviewreview…………
After filling out the forms, I was taken to a page with some basic information:

2. Note: The reason I blocked out the numbers is because payment amounts are actually
used as security questions to verify your identity when checking your credit.
Obviously the first thing I noticed is the credit score of 771. Is that accurate or not?
Being that I recently checked my score yet again on MyFICO.com I know exactly what
it is… a 790 FICO. SoSoSoSo whywhywhywhy isisisis CreditCreditCreditCredit SesameSesameSesameSesame tellingtellingtellingtelling memememe itititit’’’’ssss 771?771?771?771?
Because Credit Sesame does not use FICO scores!
The homepage was silent on the matter, but after
creating an account the sidebar has an FAQ which
blatantly tells us a “different scoring model” is being
used.
It doesn’t specify which model is being used but a
quick hop over to Wikipedia answers that question for
me: Experian National Equivalency Score
SoSoSoSo youyouyouyou areareareare gettinggettinggettinggetting anananan imitatorimitatorimitatorimitator totototo FICOFICOFICOFICO, not the real thing. My guess is this is what
largely makes it possible for the Credit Sesame service to be free, because the FICO

3. formula costs money to license (one can presume this imitating model is much
cheaper for them to license).
The Experian National Equivalency Score runs on a 360 to 840 range, rather than the
300 to 850 range for FICO.
However beyond the number differences, it’s important to remember that wewewewe areareareare
talkingtalkingtalkingtalking aboutaboutaboutabout twotwotwotwo differentdifferentdifferentdifferent scoringscoringscoringscoring modelsmodelsmodelsmodels, which means the various components
are counted differently in each.
In short, you can’t compare the two as apples to apples.
AndAndAndAnd whatwhatwhatwhat elseelseelseelse doesdoesdoesdoes itititit do?do?do?do?
I was actually looking forward to doing this review of Credit Sesame, because I was
hoping I would discover a robust tool chest of free tools to use.
But instead, I was left a bit disappointed.
The information they give you is very limited. Now in their defense it is free, so I
suppose I shouldn’t complain. But I don’t think this would help me much with
managing my credit and here’s why…
When I click on the “My CreditWorthiness” tab, it presents a screen giving me 4 “key
factors” that are impacting my score:
1.1.1.1. NumberNumberNumberNumber ofofofof CreditCreditCreditCredit InquiriesInquiriesInquiriesInquiries

4. It shows me that, but tell me something I don’t already know? What I would like to
see here is the number of inquiries, not a definition of what credit inquiries are.
2.2.2.2. AmountAmountAmountAmount OwedOwedOwedOwed onononon MortgagesMortgagesMortgagesMortgages orororor LackLackLackLack ofofofof MortgagesMortgagesMortgagesMortgages
I have no complaints on this factor. I live in an apartment and therefore lack a
mortgage, so I know that’s not the best for my credit score. There’s not much more
for them to say about this.
3.3.3.3. AmountsAmountsAmountsAmounts OwedOwedOwedOwed onononon CreditCreditCreditCredit CardsCardsCardsCards
Now this one I got a chuckle out of. As you see in the highlighted text, it says I may be
close to maxing out my credit cards. That’s funny considering that in a different
section, they show a pie chart stating my credit usage is 3%.

5. SoSoSoSo whichwhichwhichwhich oneoneoneone isisisis itititit………… 3%3%3%3% creditcreditcreditcredit utilizationutilizationutilizationutilization orororor IIII ““““maymaymaymay”””” bebebebe closeclosecloseclose totototo maxingmaxingmaxingmaxing
out?out?out?out?
For the record, I have dozens of cards and in any given month I may use 4 or 5 of
them, depending on the rewards programs which suit my needs. They are always
paid in full every month and during any given month, the utilization on a single
account typically will never exceed 15-20% between the billing cycles.
Also, MyFICO reports my credit utilization on my revolving accounts (credit cards) at
being 6% and that being “very good.” MyFICO classifies 7% and under as the best tier.
So I can’t think of any accurate reason for Credit Sesame to list this as the #3 reason
my score isn’t higher?
4.4.4.4. AverageAverageAverageAverage AgeAgeAgeAge ofofofof AccountsAccountsAccountsAccounts
No real complaints about this one. It tells a basic definition about average age of
accounts and why they impact a credit score. I don’t really expect them to say
anything else, since there’s not much to say on this matter.
However, I suppose it might be nice if they actually told me what the average age of
my accounts are?

6. AndAndAndAnd thethethethe finalfinalfinalfinal verdict?verdict?verdict?verdict?
Is Credit Sesame really free? Yes, and for that reason my complaints are all relative.
Since you are not spending any money, Credit Sesame is safe – it can’t be a scam or
ripoff since a dime isn’t being paid.
ButButButBut isisisis itititit actuallyactuallyactuallyactually useful?useful?useful?useful? ThatThatThatThat’’’’ssss thethethethe questionquestionquestionquestion totototo consider.consider.consider.consider.
If you don’t know what your creditworthiness is – then yes – this service is a good
useful way to check for free how you measure up.
But if you want to know your true FICO score (not a FAKO) and want a more in-depth
analysis of what’s on your credit report, than unfortunately Credit Sesame falls short
since its score accuracy is close but not the same as FICO.
I probably won’t do another Credit Sesame review until [if] they make it a more
robust platform. If they ever add more features like telling the number of credit
inquiries, average age of accounts, and other useful info, then I would be interested.
But for now, I’ll be closing my account.