TheCreditTruth.org

The Only Credit Search

• Quick links
• Credit monitoring free offers 
• Pros and cons of monitoring 
• What information is monitored?
• No ill effect
• Plan types

Credit Monitoring

Credit report monitoring is a service which notifies you whenever an update is made to your credit report, such as the opening or closing of an account, a change in address, or the processing of a loan payment. Credit monitoring typically allows you unlimited access to your credit report so you can keep track of your credit standing. Monitoring is considered one of the best ways to catch identity theft early.

Credit report monitoring is relatively new to the credit scene and all 3 credit reporting bureaus (TransUnion, Experian and Equifax) now offer their own services. After providing free credit reports once a year to Americans under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), the bureaus discovered that some people were willing to pay to see their credit reports year round. So they created credit monitoring as a new profit center.

Who uses monitoring? People who are:

• Concerned about identity theft and fraud
• Rebuilding their credit
• Avoiding the official site, www.annualcreditreport.com, which can be time consuming with an unpredictable platform
• Willing to pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to their credit scores
• Have used up their free yearly credit report checks and want more
• Going through a divorce

Credit monitoring free offers

To get you to sign up for a credit monitoring service, the provider typically sweetens the deal by offering free credit reports and free credit scores (from 1 or more bureaus). This is your bonus gift for trying the service for a specified period.

The real value of these free credit reports and scores is about $35. Many people are willing to try credit monitoring to get upgraded reports which include debt analysis and those tempting free scores. The only catch is they must cancel their membership during the trial period to avoid being charged.

It's important when signing up for credit monitoring that you understand the service terms and have read the fine print. Most services allow you to cancel at any time, but will not prorate your membership for the month you cancel. So you could pay anywhere from $12 - $29. Sometimes, the service charges you for an entire year at once, so beware. When canceling a trial membership, allow extra time before the end of your trial period or you may be charged for an additional month or year. Back To Top

Pros and cons of monitoring

Identity theft is by far the best reason to use credit monitoring. The constant access to your credit reports provides a measure of safety that you can't get checking your reports just once a year. For people at risk due to stolen wallets, divorce, security breaches, etc., monitoring provides an alarm. Because you are constantly being updated on changes to your reports, you will quickly catch anything odd or accounts/names you don't recognize.

Another good reason to use monitoring is that it familiarizes you with your credit reports. Some people say the updates caused them to become interested in improving their credit once they were exposed to the process of credit reporting. Other "pros" are constant access to your credit reports (rather than once a year), and free checks of your credit score (depending on the service).

The "cons" of credit monitoring? It is pricey, ranging from $12 to $29 a month. You also get what you pay for. Only the premium credit monitoring services provide access to all 3 bureau reports and all 3 scores.

Can you provide your own credit monitoring? Sure. Whenever you check your credit report, you are essentially "monitoring your credit." Rather than using your free credit checks all at once, check 1 report every 4 months. By staggering your checks this way, you can keep an eye on your reports year round for free. Although each report is slightly different, severe identity theft would most likely appear on all reports.

When checking your report, look for errors that are caused by mistakes at the credit bureau, or by the creditor that reported the item. Check for strange accounts and names you don't recognize; these could be an indication of identity theft or credit fraud. Any of these could hurt your credit score, costing you thousands of dollars in higher interest rates or denials of credit and loans.

You are more likely to notice problems and inconsistencies if you monitor your credit reports on a consistent basis, and are familiar with their format, so use those free annual checks. If you notice anything odd, report it immediately.

Some opt to pay for a credit monitoring service which automates the process rather than doing it themselves. We focus on these services below.

What information is monitored?

Credit monitoring services send alerts by email or phone whenever there's a change to your credit reports. You'll hear about:

• Changes to account information
  The service will monitor any changes to your account such as line of credit increases, delinquencies, tax liens, charge-offs, bankruptcies, and address changes
• Inquiries to your credit file
  This service will alert you to who is inquiring on your credit file
• New account activity
  The service will monitor any new accounts that are opened in your name and report this activity to you
• Collection Accounts
  If there is any activity on your credit report related to collection accounts, the monitoring service will notify you so that you can investigate it further
• Closed accounts
  Any accounts that have been recently closed will be flagged by the monitoring service and reported to you Back To Top

No ill effect

When you check your credit report or a monitoring service does it for you, it has no effect on your credit. It's only when an inquiry is made by a lender or retailer that it can affect your credit score negatively because it implies that you're applying for new credit. Back To Top

Plan types

• Single bureau monitoring allows you access to your credit report with 1 bureau, views of your credit score and may include other benefits
• Triple bureau monitoring watches all 3 bureau reports. The big plans are TrueCredit (which is run by TransUnion), Identity Guard (owned by Intersections, Inc.) and the Equifax service. They're typically the most expensive but may deliver more value

Here's a list so you can compare / contrast plans:

	TrueCredit	Identity Guard	Equifax
Cost:	$24.95 for 1st month,then $14.95/mo	$24.95 for 3 mo, then $12.99/mo	$12.95 a month
Credit bureau reports included:	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion
Best Part:	Unlimited access to all 3 credit reports and scores	Least Expensive	Unlimited Equifax reports
Worst Part:	Most expensive	No free trial	No credit scores
	Details	Details	Details
Credit score included:	Unlimited access to all 3 credit scores	All 3 credit scores	No
I.D. Theft Insurance Coverage:	Yes - $25,000	Yes - $20,000	Yes - $20,000
Debt analysis included:	Credit Analysis	Credit Analysis	No
Credit bureau source:	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion	Equifax | Experian | TransUnion
Ease of Use:	Excellent	Excellent	Good
Frequency	Every Business Day	Every Business Day	Every Business Day
New credit report updates:	Unlimited access to all 3 credit reports and scores	Quarterly update to all 3 credit reports and scores.	Unlimited access to Equifax credit report only.
Credit alerts cover:	- new accounts - credit inquiries - address changes - public records - changes to current accounts	- credit inquiries - new accounts - public records - address changes - changes to account info	- new accounts - credit inquiries - address changes - public records - changes to current accounts
Company owned by:	Service provided by TrueCredit, owned byTrans Union	Intersections Inc.	Equifax

Back To Top

---

---