Barclaycard, FNBO Now Offering Credit Scores for Free

Barclaycard and First National Bank of Omaha credit card holders will soon be able to access their credit scores for free, as part of a partnership with pioneering credit scoring company FICO. In addition, FICO said it is currently in talks with other banks to provide the free credit scoring service to their customers, as well.

While it’s mandated by federal law that you can receive your credit report free once per year (from annualcreditreport.com), and a variety of credit advocacy sites provide estimates of your credit score for free, consumers have typically had to pay for access to the actual credit score used by lenders, unless they were denied credit or received less favorable interest rates or lending terms than they sought in a loan application. This new service will provide Barclaycard and FNBO credit card holders access to the actual credit score that lenders use, rather than the “educational” scores which are often sold to consumers from myFICO, PLUS or VantageScore.

Barclaycard is initially offering free FICO score access to its Barclaycard Ring, Barclaycard Arrival, Barclaycard Rewards, Juniper, Frontier and Carnival cardmembers on an opt-in basis, with plans to expand the program by early next year. Cardmembers who opt-in can access their FICO score by logging into their Barclaycard online account. Score access is completely complimentary, with no hidden fees.

First National Bank of Omaha also plans to roll out the new program in phases. Credit card customers who have “First National Bank of Omaha” branded credit cards will be the first to receive access. Then, in the first quarter of 2014, the program will get rolled out to its co-branded credit cards, such as those from Union Bank, Overstock.com, Scheels All Sports and Sheetz. FNBO cardmembers in the program can access their FICO score by logging into their FNBO online account, going to the Service tab and clicking on “View FICO Score.”