The first is when you look for a free online FICO score you are blasted with advertisements. There are so many companies looking to give you a free credit score. The true is all are not created equal. Fair Isaac developed the FICO score and it is used by ninety percent of the lenders in the country. Seeing the success of Fair Isaac, the credit bureaus decided getting into the credit score business could be profitable. Scores that are commonly offered, when you are looking to obtain a free FICO score, might not actually be a FICO score and one of these other scores. There is a hundred different way to score credit and only one is a FICO score. You just need to make sure it does say FICO and you should be safe.

The second, when trying to obtain a free FICO score, is offers that come along with the free fico score. The fact is it isn't really free. Meaning, to obtain a free fico score, you will need to sign up for a credit monitoring program. These programs are usually free for the first month but after that you will be charged on a monthly basis.

The confusion comes from the fact Americans by law are entitled to one free credit report each year from each credit bureaus. This is does not state are entitled to obtain a free FICO score. Getting a credit score is relatively new. It was only 2003 when congress passed a law giving people the right to see their score. Before 2003, consumers were kept in the dark about their credit scores. Fair Isaac wanted to keep the score secret because they thought people would try different measures to influence their scores.

If you don't want to sign up for credit monitoring program you will have to pay for a FICO score. Once again here make sure it does say FICO. If it doesn't you run the risk of getting one of the other scoring models. If you still want to obtain a free FICO score you will have to sign up for one of these programs, but you do have the opportunity to cancel if you want. The first month is usually free.