Credit Karma and Pay360

Jenga12

I joined up for a free account for Noddle and paid account for Experian (4 months paid, free one after), about 2 years ago, when one of my work colleagues had her identity stolen. I've not logged on for over a year but did log on today. I've seen that Credit Karma have done soft searches on me about once very 3 months. I always only spend what I have - so much so that I got my first credit card in June of this year. I pay it off in full each month.
Is it usual for them to do that? If I cancel the account with them,will that stop them from doing these searches? More worryingly, a company called Pay360 did a 'money laundering' soft search on me. I'm a British middle aged postgraduate.

D3xt3r5L4b

The soft searches are to check your identity etc. and to provide you with any “offers” you’ve likely agreed to when signing up. No need to worry. 

Jenga12

But I haven't agreed to any offers. I forgot the passwords and being busy, haven't logged on for over a year. What's the P360 'anti-money laundering' one all about? I'd like to cancel the Credit Karma account but only if that would stop them from doing soft searches. Would it?

I've checked the settings and the ones like -

Get the most out of Credit Karma + Get special deals with partners,

are switched off. The only alert left on is 'Get alerts whenever something changes with your finances and see what it means for you.'

D3xt3r5L4b

Again it’s also to confirm identity etc.

It’s really no bother as other lenders etc. don’t see the soft searches.

Jenga12

How do I find out who did the searches? It only gives the names of Credit Karma (5 times in 11 months) and Pay 360 (once in August 2020). I want to know who's been trying to confirm my identity. It says 'individual' under 'application type' for each of them.

D3xt3r5L4b

Ask credit karma and pay360.
But they’ll tell you it’s under your name. 

Jenga12

Thinking about it, one may be when I joined the Football Pools, one for WHSmith 'cos I ordered The Towering Inferno DVD (to confirm my age!), one for when I got my credit card and the anti-money laundering one probably when I paid a lump sum off my interest only mortgage. Still got a large sum to pay off when it comes to an end, by end of the year.

penners324

Nothing to worry about.
You're better off keeping your Credit Karma account to track your credit history is correct.

[Deleted User]

Jenga12 said:

I'd like to cancel the Credit Karma account but only if that would stop them from doing soft searches. Would it?

No. Credit Karma just shows you the searches that are being done on you via TransUnion.

It's a bit like boarding up your windows doesn't mean the outside world goes away. You just don't see it any more.

PRAISETHESUN

There's no need to pay to access your credit files - you can request copies of your statutory reports for free directly from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

The soft searches are nothing to worry about as no-one except for you can see them. When you sign up to services such as these (comparison sites are another common source) you usually "agree" by accepting their T&Cs that you give permission for these searches to be undertaken "from time to time" to offer you products. You can of course revoke that permission, but it's more effort than it's worth to be honest. 

The main thing to worry about is the status of your credit files - if they are being managed correctly and there are no unknown hard searches or accounts then you're golden.