E-Loan

Full review
I have had a wonderful experience with E-Loan's Online Store, but I have never applied for a loan. Instead, I have used their monthly credit score monitoring service, which has helped me understand how to boost my credit score at least 14 points in the past year and prioritize my debt payments.

The cost is $29.95 annually, and I have to count this as one of the best investments toward my good credit health that I've made. ANYONE can look at their credit score for FREE - this is what lured me in to eventually purchasing the monthly service.

This service is highly educational and instructs you in detail about raising your credit. What this service does is to show you your monthly credit score, and then analyze it for what may be bringing it down, how you can improve it, and exactly what factors are playing in to the score.

For example, I had no idea that my monthly Bally Fitness payments were bringing my score down terribly because it looked like I had a credit line of a certain amount and I was paying very little toward it. It was given to me as an 'Action Item' to pay this debt off as soon as possible, so whenever I could I paid it off and watched my score go up at least 5 points.

Next, I was informed that having a credit card with a certain limit and having a balance of 49% over the half-way mark was not good and probably keeping my score lower. The more I paid off this account, the higher my score would go, just a point at a time, but still significant.

In the end I realized that using very little toward your credit limit and making all payments on time, of course, is the best way to watch your credit score climb. Having at least one revolving line of credit is important, and applying for credit can rapidly bring your score down. Just paying small amounts each month - even if doubling the minimum payment, is less desireable than getting that balance down to almost nothing.

Once I had accomplished getting close to a zero balance on my one revolving credit card, and paying off my Bally Fitness membership, paying all bills on time for a year and not applying for any new credit, I saw a good increase in my score, and I would not have known what to do without the detailed recommendations provided by E-Loan's service.

I can't emphasize enough the detail that is gone into on the monthly reports. E-Loan is aware of how much you owe on each card, and gives recommended steps in the proper order you should take them. If you are using 69% of your credit line, it knows and tells you so. If you have applied for new credit or if you have been late on a payment, it knows all of that. It's like having a personal advisor for your credit.

I highly recommend this service from E-Loan for monthly credit score check-ups and education on how to get that score higher.

Thanks for reading,

Melissa
"hempem"