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Mogo is an alternative financial platform that provides a myriad of alternative financial products. Most notably, Mogo is known for its Mogo Credit Score, which allows customers to check their credit score instantly, for free, with no negative repercussions.
In this Mogo review, we’ll take a look at the financial service and see what it has to offer Canadians seeking to up their personal finance game.
Mogo is a Canadian financial service based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 2003, Mogo now serves over 1.6 million customers, with offices in Surrey, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
Today, Mogo provides a variety of financial products dedicated to helping the average person prosper financially.
Mogo’s got no shortage of exciting products. You can learn more about these products below.
Mogo offers various financial products services, including:
Recently, Mogo acquired Moka (formerly known as Mylo), a micro-investing app. You can sign up for all of these services through Mogo’s online website or mobile app.
Mogo’s staple product is its free credit score checking service, which allows customers to monitor their credit scores regularly.
Mogo’s free credit score monitoring tool has some outstanding product features. Some of which include:
The service also allows customers to monitor and improve their scores while working with real-time monitoring and tailored feedback to help them improve and maintain their scores.
Before free credit check services like Mogo, Credit Karma, or Borrowell, Canadians had to check their credit score and credit report directly through one of the credit bureaus, either through Equifax or TransUnion, usually for a fee.
However, services like Mogo act as a middleman between the customer and the credit bureau to provide you with your credit score for free.
Checking your credit score with Mogo will not negatively impact the score. That’s because Mogo only performs soft credit checks, meaning that, unlike a hard check, it will not negatively impact your credit score.
From then on, you’ll receive monthly updates through the app and by e-mail as your credit score changes and you improve your financial habits. You’ll also receive tips and tricks on how to improve your credit score.
MogoProtect is a credit identity fraud protection service that monitors your credit profile for threats to your identity in the form of fraudsters using your information to apply for unwanted credit products.
When you apply for a new type of credit, financial institutions will perform a hard credit inquiry. MogoProtect automatically flags and notifies you of any hard credit checks to your file within 24 hours.
In the event that didn’t initiate the hard inquiry, Mogo will guide you through the appropriate steps to stop the criminal activity.
If you need to take out a personal loan, Mogo has you covered. You can apply for a personal loan online or via the mobile app and receive pre-approval in as little as three minutes.
You’ll be able to monitor your loan’s payoff progress through the mobile app’s dashboard, including your time to pay it off and the impact of extra payments.
Mogo personal loans are an excellent alternative to using your credit card or payday loans for unexpected purchases as the payment terms are fixed, which means you’re guaranteed to pay off the loan if you make your payments from your bank account faithfully.
That said, Mogo’s personal loans have a high interest rate (higher than you’ll find from a traditional lender like a bank), so if you have a good credit score, you may find a lower interest rate by shopping around.
While it’s unusual for fintech companies to offer mortgages, Mogo does offer MogoMortgage which you can apply for through its online dashboard.
Technically, the mortgages are not provided by Mogo. Instead, Mogo will connect you with market-leading rates from top lenders and help you through the process of applying for your mortgage.
When you take out a mortgage or refinance through Mogo, you’ll be eligible for up to $3,100 cashback into your rewards account.
Mogo recently acquired robo-advisor and micro-investing service known as Moka.
Formerly known as Mylo, Moka provides a set-it-and-forget-it approach to investing, as it rounds up purchases from debit and credit transactions and invests the spare change into Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).
Customers can choose the portfolio according to their risk tolerance and financial goals.
As a Canadian robo-advisor, Moka is perfect for those with little-to-no investing knowledge, as it allows people to start investing immediately.
When comparing Mogo credit to other credit monitoring services available in Canada, we conclude that Mogo is a good choice.
The monthly credit alerts and free identity fraud protection are excellent tools to make use of, and the tips and tricks that Mogo offers will help you improve your credit score over time.
Unlike some other free credit monitoring services, Mogo also provides a bunch of additional products to suit your needs. If you find yourself needing a personal loan, or mortgage, Mogo has something to offer you.
Having said that, Mogo has a reputation for having higher interest rates on its personal loans.
Some Canadians have also complained about poor customer service, so make sure to read the fine print before using any Mogo services.
When you sign up with Mogo, the company pulls your credit score directly from Equifax, one of Canada’s most prominent credit bureaus.
After you check your Mogo credit score for the first time, Mogo will then check it every month and send you an update with your score along with tips and tricks to improve it.
You’ll be able to see the impact of your good financial habits on your credit score month over month.
When you sign up with Mogo, you’ll receive your credit score directed from Equifax, one of Canada’s two major credit bureaus.
Since the credit score is coming directly from Equifax, it is very accurate. Still, you may want to pull your credit score from the other credit reporting bureau, TransUnion, to have more information about your overall score.
Mogo updates your credit score monthly from Equifax which means it is always up to date, and you are able to accurately see how your actions impact your credit score over time.
Mogo is a Canadian-based company that was founded in 2003 by David Feller.
The company has over one million members and had its initial public offering in 2015, now a publicly traded company that trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
Mogo has locations in Vancouver, Surrey, and Winnipeg. Key shareholders in Mogo include Michael A. Wekerle, Gregory Feller, FIG LLC (a private equity firm), Renaissance Technologies LLC, and Mariner LLC.