Experian CreditMatch Review: Match With a Great Credit Card
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Credit cards often get a bad rap in the personal finance community because they are often a major source of debt for many consumers. If you have bad credit, it’s not a great idea to open up a new credit line. However, if you’ve been using a credit monitoring service to improve your credit score and have reigned in your personal finances many times, opening a new credit card could be a wise financial move.
For example, I’ve got a few upcoming trips for out-of-town weddings, so I went ahead and decided to open a credit card with travel rewards specifically for travel. I wanted to make sure that the card had the right travel perks for me while not having a high-interest rate or annual fee. Before I started the application process, I used a credit card matching service to weigh my options and know that the hard pull on my credit report would be worth the slight dip in my score.
Experian CreditMatch is one such service that makes it easy to find the right card based on your credit profile if you're considering opening a new one. Learn more about this service from Experian (and whether it’s a good fit for you) in this review.
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What is Experian CreditMatch?
Experian CreditMatch is a service that helps connect you to potential deals on credit cards and personal loans that you are likely to qualify for based on your creditworthiness. It analyzes your credit history and FICO score, showing you various offers based on the cards you’re most likely to receive approval on.
ExperianCreditMatch isn’t just for credit cards either. If you want to know the likelihood of being approved for a personal or student loan, Experian CreditMatch can also help suggest Experian partners in these categories.
Experian CreditMatch also comes with credit monitoring features that can be useful as you work to improve your credit. By drawing on information from the major credit bureaus, you can learn how your available credit and other factors, like student loans, are holding your credit score back. As such, it’s a great option for newcomers to the world of credit cards and people looking to stay on track to achieve good or excellent credit. You can even search for secured credit cards you’ll likely be approved for to build your credit further.
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How does Experian CreditMatch work?
Signing up for Experian CreditMatch is simple and easy. You’ll start by navigating to Experian’s website, where you’ll create an account with the website. Once you’ve arrived on their website, simply click the “Let’s get started” button to register your account.
From there, you’ll fill out some basic personal information about yourself. This includes details like your legal name and mailing address, as well as your email address and a password for future login. You can streamline this registration process by using single sign-on via a Google account if you'd like.
Once you’ve created your account and logged in, simply navigate to the Credit Card menu item and select “See Your Cards” to see what CreditMatch has found for you.
Note that in addition to being able to access CreditMatch, your Experian CreditWorks Basic account also gives you the following features free of charge:
- Experian credit monitoring
- Experian credit alerts
- Free FICO score and Experian credit report
- FICO score monitoring
How much does Experian CreditMatch cost?
While Experian offers paid versions of its credit monitoring services, to use Experian CreditMatch, you only need a basic, free account. This is great news for many people because having no annual fee makes CreditMatch far more accessible regardless of where you’re at financially in your walk of life. Our recommendation is to not pay a dime for this free service—after all, if you’re picking an Experian partner, they are getting something out of the deal in the first place!
Credit Saint takes action to fix unfair or inaccurate negative items harming your credit.
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Free consultation
- 200k happy customers
- 19 years experience
- 11,000+ five-star reviews
Experian CreditMatch features
CreditMatch Percentage
Nobody wants to apply for a credit card only to be rejected. The CreditMatch percentage helps you weigh the likelihood of being approved for a specific credit card. The higher the percentage, the more likely you will be approved for the card. According to Experian’s website, these percentages are calculated using an algorithm that “analyzes multiple card attributes against your credit profile to determine your matches.”
Filters
Not everyone is looking for the same features in a credit card. CreditMatch makes sorting through different options and categories seamless. The following categories are all available to review in your Experian CreditMatch profile:
- Best match
- Cash back
- Points
- Balance transfer
- 0% Intro APR
- Travel
- Low interest
- No annual fee
Personalize results
If you already have a credit card that Experian CreditMatch suggests, you can quickly remove it from current or future results by selecting the “I have this card” button. Pro tip: you can also use the “I have this card” button if you want to exclude a card that doesn’t quite appeal to you.
Credit monitoring
As mentioned, you can manage credit monitoring services via Experian CreditMatch to improve your odds of getting accepted for future offers. Reviewing factors keeping your score down (such as utilizing too much of one card’s credit limit) can be an easy way to make positive changes and boost your score over time.
Who is Experian CreditMatch best for?
Consumers new to credit cards
If you’re new to using credit cards or are looking for advice on which card is the best to open, Experian CreditMatch is a great fit for you. With various ways to evaluate different credit cards and the peace of mind that you’ll be approved, CreditMatch makes opening a new card a breeze.
Individuals monitoring their credit
Looking to improve your credit? CreditMatch’s credit monitoring tools are a great way to keep track of your progress without paying a dime.
Who shouldn’t use Experian CreditMatch?
Small business owners
CreditMatch offers much insight into different types of credit cards; however, they don’t currently have a category for business-related credit cards. As such, you’ll need to look elsewhere if you’re evaluating your options for company cards.
Consumers with excellent credit
If you already have great credit, the credit monitoring features of Experian CreditMatch will be less useful than if you’re actively trying to improve your credit score. Additionally, if you already have great credit, you’ll probably be pre-approved for more premium cards that might not be Experian partners.
Credit Saint takes action to fix unfair or inaccurate negative items harming your credit.
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Free consultation
- 200k happy customers
- 19 years experience
- 11,000+ five-star reviews
Pros and cons
Pros
- Mobile app. While you can use CreditMatch on your desktop computer, the Experian app also gives you access to CreditMatch on the go via their easy-to-use mobile app.
- Free. A big benefit of using Experian CreditMatch is that the service is packed with helpful features and free of charge.
- Won’t ding your credit score. Since Experian CreditMatch uses the FICO 8 score to calculate your score and eligibility, you won’t have to worry about your credit being impacted by hard pulls.
Cons
- Some cards aren’t featured. If your friend tells you about their great card, there’s a chance that you may not see it in your results since most of the offers are partners with Experian.
- Not many premium options. More premium cards aren’t often featured on CreditMatch. As such, it’s a better fit for people with good credit or those new to credit cards.
- Experian sends a lot of emails. You’ll want to make sure you’re adjusting your email preferences right when you sign up for your Experian account. Otherwise, you’re likely to get a lot of emails from the credit bureau, not all of which are the most useful or helpful.
Experian CreditMatch vs. competitors
Service | Pre-Qualified Offers | Price | FICO Score Monitoring |
Experian CreditMatch | Yes | Free | Yes |
Credit Karma | Yes | Free | Yes |
Bankrate CardMatch | Yes | Free | No |
Experian CreditMatch
Backed by Experian, one of the three major credit bureaus, CreditMatch is a strong contender compared to other personal finance options for credit card recommendations. Provided free of charge, featuring pre-qualified offers, and with added FICO score monitoring, it’s a great all-in-one tool to help steer your finances in the right direction.
Credit Karma
Credit Karma isn’t affiliated with a credit bureau, but it is still a solid option for getting credit card matches and monitoring your credit score. Credit Karma is provided free of charge and packs many other features into its website and service, too. Even so, its focus on many aspects of personal finance could overwhelm those newer to credit monitoring and credit cards. So, it’s not as strong of an entry-level choice as CreditMatch.
Bankrate CardMatch
Bankrate CardMatch is a fine service that isn’t fundamentally different from Credit Karma or Experian CreditMatch. However, Bankrate CardMatch doesn’t include credit monitoring as a part of its recommendations package, so if you’re trying to build up credit on your journey to a new card, it may be less ideal. The card recommendations aren’t substantially different than offers you’d receive from CreditMatch or Credit Karma, so it’s worth passing on Bankrate CardMatch unless you’re a big fan of their site already.
FAQs
Does Experian CreditMatch impact my credit?
No, Experian CreditMatch uses the FICO 8 score to calculate your eligibility, and as such, your credit is never pulled to determine which cards you’re a good match for. No hard pull of your credit occurs as part of the credit monitoring services offered by Experian CreditMatch; only a soft pull.
Does Experian CreditMatch explain why you aren’t matched for certain cards?
Unfortunately, you don’t get much info about why you aren’t a good fit for a specific card. There are definitely situations where you may log in and look for travel card recommendations, only to see 0 options with no idea why.
Does Experian make money off of its credit card offers?
Yes. Many of the offers you get pre-qualified with Experian CreditMatch are from partners who compensate Experian for being featured on CreditMatch. This is one way that Experian CreditMatch can offer all of the features in its basic account free of charge. This is what Experian says about this practice on its website: “The offers that appear on this site are from third party companies ("our partners") from which Experian Consumer Services receives compensation. This compensation may impact how, where, and in what order the products appear on this site. The offers on the site do not represent all available financial services, companies, or products.”
Credit Saint takes action to fix unfair or inaccurate negative items harming your credit.
- 90-day money-back guarantee
- Free consultation
- 200k happy customers
- 19 years experience
- 11,000+ five-star reviews
The bottom line
While there is always the potential danger of maxing out your credit card, it’s also worth noting that some credit card offers come with major perks that, when used responsibly, make opening a new line of credit a no-brainer. From cash-back offers to balance transfers and bonus points, opening the right credit card at the right time—and using it responsibly—can be a major boon for you and your finances.
When it comes to monitoring your credit and finding good credit card offers that you’re qualified for, Experian CreditMatch is an ideal solution. This easy-to-use service is offered free of charge, so no matter where your finances are, you’ll be able to get value out of the platform. While there are other options on the market, CreditMatch is a strong contender even when compared to more household names such as Credit Karma.
Those with high credit scores or an interest in premium cards may not get as much out of the service. Still, for more entry-level consumers who are just dipping into the world of credit cards or looking for a solid travel card, Experian CreditMatch is well worth considering.
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Writer
Brent Ervin-Eickhoff is a Chicago-based writer, stage director, and filmmaker with a background in digital marketing and content creation. In addition to Joy Wallet, Brent has written for Complex, Volkswagen, HowlRound, Picture this Post, and Third Coast Review, among others. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Marketing for Content Creation at Court Theatre at the University of Chicago. Brent graduated from Ball State University with Academic Honors in Writing.
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