Borrowell Canada: How To Check Your Credit Score For Free

If you need to check your credit score, your options include getting it from one of the credit bureaus, through your banking app, or through third-party companies like Borrowell. Borrowell pulls from Equifax and provides you with your score for free – plus, it allows you to check out other financial products and services that might be of interest, including one for credit building.

What is Borrowell?

Borrowell is a Canadian fintech company based in Toronto. Although it’s not a credit reporting agency like Equifax, it pulls your Equifax credit report to give you a free score. You can create a free account with Borrowell to access your score.

Since you don’t pay for the service, the company makes money by recommending financial products through affiliate partners. If you check your score and decide to apply for a recommended credit card, Borrowell might get a small kickback from the credit card issuer.

Pros and cons of Borrowell

When using a third-party service to access your credit score, there are some benefits and downsides to be aware of.

• It’s free to check your credit score: Check your score as often as you like! Borrowell updates your credit information every week.
• You’ll get personalized financial product recommendations: Borrowell partners with over 75 companies to offer tailored recommendations for credit cards, loans, mortgages, and more.
• The website and app are safe and secure: Borrowell states the company works closely with government and law enforcement to prevent and investigate fraud. The company received an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau and Trust Pilot gave it 4.1 out of 5 stars.
• Borrowell’s products are vetted to be useful: The company identifies your financial goals and offers actionable tips for reaching them. For instance, making monthly payments for 36 months helps you build your credit.

• You’ll receive product marketing: To access your score, you must provide your personal information. While Borrowell doesn’t sell that data, it does use it to market financial services to you.
• Borrowell only pulls your Equifax report: Scores can differ between the credit bureaus and if you’re looking for your TransUnion credit score, you’re out of luck here.
• The credit-building tool costs money: If you sign up to improve your credit and join the 36-month program, you will have to pay $10 to $50 a month, depending on your chosen plan.

How to check your credit score with Borrowell

If you’re new to Borrowell, sign up for a free account. Start by entering your email and creating a username/password.

You’ll also need the following:

• Full name
• Address
• Date of birth
• Phone number
• Income
• Financial goals for the year (improve credit, buy a home, pay down debt, or invest)

Next, Borrowell will ask a series of personal identity verification questions. You must pass these for Equifax to pull up your credit file.

When you log into your Borrowell account, you’ll see a dashboard with your credit score prominently displayed. You can see how your score has changed over time.

You can also download your Equifax report, which is a good idea since you should check your report for fraud or errors at least once per year.

Other Borrowell product offerings

Free credit score access is the big lure to Borrowell Canada, but the company offers a few other tools that make the website valuable.

1. Banking recommendations

If you’re new to Canada or just looking to change where you bank, Borrowell offers personalized suggestions for chequing and savings accounts. Plus, you might even snag a limited-time offer.

Some of the banks Borrowell currently partners with include:

• Scotiabank
• BMO
• National Bank
• EQ Bank
• Motusbank
• Wealthsimple

2. Personal loan recommendations

Once you receive your free credit score, you’ll see your approval odds for getting a personal loan. Potential loan offers from over 50 lenders range from $500 to $25,000, as well as loans that cover up to 55% of your home. Interest rates for these loans are typically 8% to 40%.

3. Credit card recommendations

Taking your credit score into account, Borrowell will suggest a lineup of credit cards you can consider.

The company analyzes over 60 credit cards to come up with its recommendations, but we think our personalized credit card quiz will give you more accurate results. You can check out our best credit cards page to see the top credit cards in Canada.

4. Mortgage rates and mortgage recommendations

Borrowell doesn’t offer its own loans but uses your credit profile and the services of a mortgage coach to help you find the best mortgage rates. Check out the mortgage calculator to see how much of a house you can afford, and read through commonly asked homebuying questions.

5. Insurance recommendations

Borrowell uses your credit and financial profile to help you find the right insurance product. Some of its current partners include big names like:

• Surex
• LowestRates
• Sonnet
• National Bank
• Square One
• Apollo
• PolicyMe

6. Financial education blog

Borrowell publishes articles on a wide variety of financial topics, including credit education, loans, housing, budgeting tips, news, and more.

7. Credit building tools

Borrowell has 2 tools that you can use to help raise your credit score:

• Rent Advantage. You pay Borrowell a small monthly fee and the company will verify your on-time rent payments. Since Borrowell regularly reports these on-time payments to Equifax, your credit score should increase.
• Credit Builder. You essentially take out a loan from Borrowell but you don’t actually receive the money. Instead, you pay the company a fixed sum of money every month (typically $10 to $50). After the 36-month term of the program, you’ll get the funds back (minus a small portion that Borrowell keeps in exchange for its services). Borrowell reports your payments to Equifax and you should see your credit score improve.

Alternatives to using Borrowell

Borrowell isn’t the only provider of free credit scores. You can also access your score using third-party services like Credit Karma Canada, along with the credit bureaus, Equifax and TransUnion.

Here's how they all stack up.

You may also receive a free credit report from your bank. If you bank with BMO, CIBC, RBC, Scotiabank, or TD, ask how often you can check your credit report for free.

FAQ

Is it safe to use Borrowell?

Yes, Borrowell is generally known to be safe. The company uses 256-bit encryption, which is the same level of security that banks have. We should note that other third-party services (and even the credit bureaus) only use 128-bit encryption.

Does Borrowell hurt your credit score?

No, Borrowell uses a soft credit pull to check your score, so your credit won’t take a hit.

Is Borrowell owned by Equifax?

No, Equifax doesn’t own Borrowell, but they have been partners since 2016.

Why is my Borrowell credit score so low?

There are several reasons why your credit score might be low. You may have made late payments or missed payments, a high debt-to-income ratio, or relatively little credit history to report.

What is a good credit score in Canada?

We’ve done a lot of research on what makes a good credit score and found that scores between 660 and 724 are considered good enough to get credit card approval. Borrowell’s website suggests a good score should be higher – between 713 and 900.