Credit Karma’s New Credit Monitoring App For iOS Shoots Up App Store Charts

Credit Karma, the online credit monitoring service backed by $3 million from SV Angel, Founders Fund and others, has shot up to become the #1 Financial app in the Apple App Store and #22 overall, only a day after its mobile debut. Like its online counterpart, Credit Karma Mobile brings credit monitoring to your iOS device, and notifies you when certain events are reported on your credit report.

And yes, it’s actually free, not free*.

Thanks to less-than-reputable companies which have, in the past, tricked users into signing up for “free*” credit reports which come with strings attached (i.e., monthly charges), Credit Karma has to fight the perception that “free” actually means “watch out, it’s a trap!” So to be clear, the company doesn’t monetize its service by charging users – instead, it operates as an ad-supported company by allowing banks and other financial services to target ads based on demographics and credit scores. The company doesn’t share your information without your consent, but the plan is to allow these companies to offer users discounts based on their credit scores. This would be done without sharing personally identifiable information, however – it’s similar to how Mint.com operates, to give you an idea.

Disclaimers out of the way, the new iOS app offers the same type of features that users could access before using the online service, including monitoring, alerts, and a Credit Report Card, which tells you more about the various factors affecting your score. In January, CEO Kenneth Lin told us that the service had 4 million total users. He says now that the company passed the 7 million user mark last week. And that number is looking to spike again, now that they’ve gone mobile. In 8 hours, the app ranked as the fourth most popular free finance app on iOS, and, as noted above, it now ranks #1. It also reached the #27 spot overall 18 hours after launch and, as of this morning, is up to spot #22 (in the free apps list).

You can download the Credit Karma for yourself here.