While we are on the subject of keeping track of your credit score, as a result of a bunch of class action lawsuits against TransUnion, virtually anyone who has had a credit card since 1987 can select from several settlement options, including up to nine months of enhanced credit monitoring.

First, the settlement applies to “[a]ll consumers who had an open credit account or an open line of credit from a credit grantor located in the United States at any time during the period January 1, 1987 to” May 28, 2008.

So pretty much anyone with a credit card.

LendingClub and Prosper.com will “grade” borrowers based on Experian data. WaMu credit cards include TransUnion-based monthly FICO scores (although it probably is not worth getting a new card just for that perk). E-Loan Mortgage offers a one-time score based on Experian data

But the best one seems to be Credit Karma, which offers a free daily estimate of your credit score based on Experian credit data. This is the one for obsessive credit trackers.

Five Ways To Get a Free Credit Score (No Trials) | My Money Blog (via Lifehacker)

I have a backlog of cool articles in my starred items folder in Google Reader. Here they are:

• Good news from a debt-collection industry source: Collectors Face New Law in Colorado, and NY Considers Debtor’s Bill of Rights | Collection News
• Countrywide CEO Gave Below Market Rate Loans To Senators From A Special “VIP Desk” | Consumerist
• Subprime Insider Drama | Consumer Rights Watch
• Review your public records for FREE | California Debt Blog
• House of Representatives Holds Hearing on Credit Card Marketing to Students | Consumer Law & Policy
• Barack Obama says he and his wife were carrying the equivalent of a second mortgage in consumer debt until his book deals paid off. Obama on Consumer Debt | Consumer Law & Policy

Bet you didn’t know your cell phone can (1) reach an ambulance anywhere in the world, (2) unlock your car, (3) go longer with a reserve battery, (4) be disabled remotely if you grab its serial number, and (5) get you free directory information.

5 Secret Things Your Cell Phone Can Do? | Apartment Therapy

[photo: freerangestock flickr pool]

Last year, Citi promised its credit card customers that “A Deal is a Deal” - that they would be getting rid of “any time for any reason” interest rate hikes. But now that they’re facing financial problems, Citi is reconsidering this pledge. Ed Mierzwinski made the SNL connection in his blog at US PIRG, noting that Citi might “emulate Gilda Radner’s famous SNL character Emily Litella and say ‘oh, never mind,’ whenever they want to change rates and terms on otherwise good customers.”

Today’s New York Times ran this article about Citi’s impending flip flop. The Times speculates that the approach hasn’t helped their bottom line because “consumers don’t recognize the benefit, in part because of the difficulty deciphering the fine print among offers from different banks.” I’d also bet that Citi’s pledge to refrain from this abuse wasn’t bringing in new customers because people don’t understand its prevalence among other card companies. It’s hard to comparison shop when you don’t know what to compare.