Do you want to know what your credit score is but don’t want to pay for a report? Then you’ve come to the right place.
According to Equifax, the average Canadian credit score is 672 as of 2022. The maximum credit score you can have is 900.
Usually, you’d have to pay a fee to get a credit report done. But luckily, there are companies such as Borrowell that provide free credit score reports for Canadians.
Knowing your score, regardless of whether you have fantastic or poor credit is a good idea. Even though my credit score is excellent, I still use Borrowell to review my score every few months to detect if there is any credit fraud under my name.
Free Credit Score and Lending
Offers free credit score checking and monitoring in Canada. Compare credit cards, and take out loans.
- Free credit score and monitoring
- Quick and hassle-free loan access
- An easy-to-use user interface
- Good option as a lender for debt management
- Top-notch bank-grade safety standards
- Interest rates for loans are not as low as a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
- Limited loan options
Highlights
- Free credit score and report based on Equifax’s patented model
- Free credit score monitoring – your credit profile is updated monthly for free
- Offers unsecured loans— acquire loans up to $35,000 for three or five-year terms without needing any guarantor.
- Offers credit card comparison— compare different types of cards with their features, fees, and interest rates
- Offers Worry-free use— uses bank-level 256-bit encryption for data entry
- Educates— free credit card improvement tips
What Is Borrowell?
Borrowell has been around since 2014 as a digital lender that provides low-interest personal loans. For me, the most endearing thing about Borrowell is its 100% online operations that don’t have any brick-and-mortar footprint.
Since its formation, the digital platform has added value to its services by introducing different services. One of the most noteworthy developments in this context is Borrowell’s collaboration with Equifax in 2016. This allowed Borrowell to become the first digital fintech platform to offer Canadian citizens free access to their credit scores.
As of now, Borrowell has more than one million members that have used several of its services. Borrowell has succeeded in making a mark among users because its free credit card score service comes with no strings attached. This means you don’t need to use any paid service to find out your credit score and report.
All you need is to sign up on the website, and within a few minutes, you can find out your latest credit score.
Borrowell Reviews: What Does Borrowell Canada Offer?
Borrowell is more than just a free-of-charge way to find out your credit score. If you want to make the most of this online fintech platform, read on.
Free Credit Score and Free Credit Report
Offering free credit scores became a game-changer for Borrowell. Racing to one million members has a lot to do with this extraordinary offer. Borrowell started a free credit score service in 2016, which was soon followed by free credit reports.
The credit score and report furnished by Borrowell are based on Equifax’s score range of 300-850 and Risk Score of 2.0. Equifax Risk Score determines the chances that a borrower will let the debt fall into delinquency over the next year.
The introduction of free credit monitoring proves to be the icing on the top. Borrowell revises your credit profile every month without charging you a single dollar. This free-of-charge service allows you to be more diligent about your credit profile.
You can keep track of any error or fraud on your credit profile for which you have to pay money to credit bureaus otherwise.
How to Get Your Free Credit Score and Free Credit Report
The process of finding out your free credit score and getting a credit report is really simple. In a couple of steps, while providing the relevant details, you can retrieve the required information.
Here, we will take you through the process with a series of snapshots.
1) Signup for free: Go to the signup page here
2) The signup process will be completed within a few seconds. This window will appear after that. Click on GET STARTED
3) Fill out the asked details in every window and keep clicking the CONTINUE button.
4) From the above window, you will be carried to a questionnaire from Equifax to make your detailed credit report. All of this will take a couple of minutes. Once you submit all the information, the following window will appear.
Fixed-Rate Personal Loans
The other good thing about Borrowell is its flexible loan-granting terms. Whether you are looking to get small personal loans without a guarantor or managing a debt consolidation plan, the fixed-rate loan service of Borrowell will come in handy.
You can borrow up to $35,000 on a three and five-year return basis. . You can return the loans before the term ends without incurring any pre-payment penalty.
I also like the fact that Borrowell doesn’t waste time in approving the loan. If you are eligible to get a loan, you will get it without painful, endless waiting. The eligibility criteria for obtaining a loan from Borrowell are as follows:
- You must be a Canadian citizen or resident
- You should have a credit score above 660
- You haven’t filed for a consumer proposal or bankruptcy
- You should have a bank account in Canada
How to Get a Borrowell Loan
Besides meeting the above-mentioned criteria, you need to provide these three details to apply for a loan with Borrowell.
- The reason for borrowing the loan
- A document to verify your monthly income
- Details of your mortgage/rent commitments
After filling in all the details we have discussed above, you will land on a window such as this:
Once you chose the loan offer, you will need to either submit your two latest pay stubs or two notices of assessments from your most recent tax returns.
After submitting the verification of income, you will have to choose your bank account.
After verifying your income statement and bank account, Borrowell will send you the paperwork to fill out. You will have the loan deposited in your account soon after the submission of the paperwork.
It is important to mention here that all these submissions take 1-2 days and are done digitally.
Credit Card Comparison Portal
To make its credit-related services wholesome, Borrowell also lets its registered members compare different credit cards. You can compare different cards on the basis of their features, annual fees, and interest rates.
The type of credit cards you can compare on Borrowell are mentioned in the below snapshot.
Borrowell Free Credit Score and Credit Report FAQ
What does a credit score tell about my finances?
Your credit score is the measure of your financial well-being. The score goes from 300 to 900 and indicates your financial stability and creditworthiness from poor to excellent. To qualify for loans, you need to have your credit score in the bandwidth of “very good” to “excellent. Usually, a credit score above 650 is considered good.
Will checking my credit score impact it for worse?
No, checking your credit score constitutes as a “soft inquiry” and doesn’t affect your score.
Is finding my credit score a length process?
Finding your credit score on apps like Borrowell is as easy as it gets. You can find out your credit score in a couple of minutes from within your device and without leaving your seat.
What’s mentioned in my credit report?
A credit report gives an overview of your credit history. The report usually includes information on credit accounts, credit inquiries, and consumer statements.
Will the credit score I will find out through Borrowell will be accurate?
There are two credit bureaus in Canada, including Equifax, that calculates your credit score. Borrowell gives you the credit score that the Equifax model determines. So, yes, the credit scores you will find on Borrowell will be accurate.
Does Borrowell spam its members with emails and messages or calls?
Besides sending you a monthly reminder to check your credit score and report, Borrowell doesn’t send any unsolicited emails or messages to its members.
Borrowell Loan Competitors
As of now, Borrowell has two competitors in the Canadian market: Grow and Mogo. Let’s have a quick look at how these two platforms fare against Borrowell.
Grow
Formerly known as Grouplend, has now been acquired by ATB Financial. It offers loans from $1,000 to $30,000 on different fixed-rate interest rates for up to a five-year return term.
It also offers free credit scores and reports but with its own RateTracker, which may not be as accurate as Equifax’s universally accepted propriety model.
Mogo
Mogo is the oldest player among digital fixed-rate personal loan lenders, with more than 200,000 active members. It offers the same loan amount as Borrowell ($35,000). Like the other two platforms, it also offers free credit updates to its members.
Borrowell Fees and Costs For Loans
Besides the fixed annual interest rates, you need to take care of a couple of fees to acquire a loan from Borrowell. These costs include:
- The origination fee will cover the cost of customer and administration services. It will depend on your credit profile and the amount of loan you are applying for. Usually, it doesn’t exceed 5% of the loan amount.
- You will have to pay $25 if your account doesn’t have the required money on the beforehand agreed-upon repayment dates.
- There is no fee for credit score and credit reports with no fine print terms and conditions.
Is Borrowell Safe and Legit?
Yes, Borrowell is safe to do business with. The company understands the importance of data encryption while acting as a third-party entity between users and their bank accounts.
Borrowell has implemented 256-bit encryption on all the data entries to protect sensitive financial information from hacking and online eavesdropping. This encryption complies with the requirements of all major Canadian banks.
How to Delete Borrowell Account
There is no automatic method to delete or deactivate your Borrowell account.
To deactivate your Borrowell Account, you need to send an email to info@borrowell.com, and one of its customer care representatives will guide you further from there.
Borrowell Contact and Customer Service
There are three main contact points:
- Contact form here: https://borrowell.com/contact-us
- Email info@borrowell.com
- Phone number: 1-866-828-5961
Is Borrowell Right for You?
Sign up for Borrowell if:
- You want free credit reports
- You want free credit monitoring
- You want a loan and meet the eligibility requirements
Borrowell – Who This App Is NOT for
Don’t get Borrowell if:
- You don’t care about your credit score
- You aren’t worried about detecting fraud on your account
- You don’t need a loan, or can get a cheaper one through something like a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
My video review of Borrowell on Youtube:
