The importance of maintaining a high credit score is growing as more and more companies use it as a factor in deciding whether or not to provide you credit. You may keep a watch on your credit score and report with the help of a credit monitoring service. You may monitor your credit and receive advance notice of any upcoming changes.
Credit monitoring also helps you spot identity theft cases, a type of fraud rapidly becoming one of the most widespread crimes in the US. Keep in mind the cost of credit monitoring services when you compare providers. Some services may be free, while others may require a subscription. Consider whether or if the service checks your credit with all three major bureaus and the specific services that will be provided.
Privacy Guard
With PrivacyGuard, you can monitor your credit scores across all three major agencies. It notifies you through phone, email, or text message if there is a change to your credit report.
For the first 14 days, you can test PrivacyGuard for $1. After then, your credit card will be charged until you cancel your membership. For just $9.99 a month, PrivacyGuard provides you with basic ID Protection. ID Protection keeps an eye out for telltale symptoms of identity theft by scanning the open and dark web, government databases, and other sources. Theft of personal information is covered for up to a million dollars.
For only $19.99 a month, you can access your credit reports and scores from all three bureaus, daily credit monitoring, and a virtual version of your credit score. For an additional $24.99 per month, you can get everything that the Credit Protection and ID Protection plans offer together.
Credit Karma
Among the services we recommend, only Credit Karma monitors your credit report without charging you anything. No free trial is available, and your payment card information is never requested. With Credit Karma, you may check your credit score at no cost on TransUnion and Equifax.
Daily revisions are made to your credit report, which includes your VantageScore 3.0. The data in your credit report are updated every week. In addition to keeping an eye on your credit score, you can also set up alerts for any suspicious behavior across your credit reports.
IdentityForce
There are two primary identification and credit monitoring services offered by IdentityForce. Identity monitoring is the sole service included in the UltraSecure package. Additionally, your identity and credit report will both be tracked by the UltraSecure+Credit package.
For $17.99 a month or $179.90 a year, you may upgrade to the UltraSecure plan and take advantage of its many security-enhancing features, all designed to keep your data safe from unauthorized access. Identity theft insurance for $1 million will also be provided to you, helping to defray any costs you may incur as a result of resolving an identity theft incident.
What Is Credit Monitoring?
A credit monitoring service is a business that checks your credit for a monthly subscription and alerts you to any unusual activity. To stay abreast of any changes to your credit report, you may create a profile and sign up for alerts and notifications.
The next step is to decide whether or not the action in question is a valid transaction that you processed or fraudulent conduct that has to be blocked. A credit monitoring service is an easy and efficient method to monitor your credit score and catch any problems before they cause too much damage.
How Does Credit Monitoring Service Operate?
A user of a credit monitoring service must first sign up for an account, verify personal information and choose a strong password. By signing up for a credit monitoring service, the user authorizes that company to keep an eye on their credit and contact them if anything suspicious is spotted. Services that monitor credit reports may choose to check only one or two of the three major credit agencies, while others may check all three.
How Much Does a Credit Monitoring Service Cost?
The price of credit monitoring can range widely. While some businesses provide their service at no cost, others may provide a limited time of service at no cost. Services with more options and bells and whistles usually cost more. Depending on features and user count, these costs might vary from $7 to $40 monthly.
Credit Monitoring Scams: How To Avoid Them
Too many individuals lose their money and personal information to credit monitoring frauds. People must be informed of the existence of such cons. Be sure you can afford the service upfront, do some background research, read both favorable and bad reviews, check the company's length of service, and trust your instinct. Any message that appears fishy, includes misspelled wording, or sounds too wonderful to be true is likely a fraud.
