A new financial product, credit monitoring services, has become quite popular recently. Since credit is very prevalent on the minds of many consumers, this is a service that a lot of people are taking advantage of.
As such, there are many companies offering credit reporting monitoring services for consumers who are concerned about the state of their credit report. There are several things that credit monitoring companies can do for the consumer who is concerned about making sure that they have a stabilized credit report.
Monitoring Your Credit Report In Real Time
First, subscribing to the service allows a person to stay abreast of their credit scores. If a person has a good credit score, he or she would certainly want it to stay that way.
These credit monitoring services give a person the credit scores from all three of the major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Transunion, and Experian). Many people might think that if your score is good with one agency that it’s good with all three. But what a lot of people don’t know can hurt them.
The fact of the matter is that all three of the credit reporting agencies vary in their reporting methods and therefore the final number that they come up with will vary. In addition to this, certain negative reports might not show up on one or two of the credit bureaus reports, but it might show up on the third.
If the negative information shows up on any of them, than the one that has the negative credit information will have a much lower score than the other one or two might have. Many people have been caught off guard when they were denied financing for loans or credit, because they weren’t aware of negative information that showed up on the report from one of the three credit bureaus.
If a person subscribes to credit monitoring, they don’t have to be caught off guard. You can see in real time what is being reported and if something negative is being reported, they can take steps to get rid of the negative information so that they’re not caught off guard at a bad time.
Protect You From Identify Theft
Another thing that credit monitoring services do, is help consumers keep track of suspicious activity. Identity theft is a very real threat for any and all consumers. It is becoming one of the fastest growing crimes in recent years.
When a person subscribes to a credit monitoring service, they can get a look at what is being reported. They can also request a “lock” on their credit profile so that if anyone attempts to apply for a loan in their name, it will be denied and they will be notified immediately.
So many people have found that their good name and Social Security number have been used to obtain products services and credit that they had no idea that they were associated with. However, with real time credit monitoring, when a person sees that this activity is going on, they can take immediate steps to get this information off of their credit report and to prosecute the person who is using their credit card and Social Security number information.
In addition to identity theft protection, some credit monitoring services also offer insurance. In case of an identity theft incident, the credit monitoring company will help pay for the legal costs for restoring your credit and you will get compensated for any monetary damages.
These services are offered with an additional fee, but they have helped to restore peace of mind, and they have helped consumers get back on track when an identity thief has stolen their information. There are a lot of pros in using these services and there really aren’t any cons, because staying on top one’s credit in real time is simply too important nowadays.
How Much Does It Cost?
The costs of credit monitoring services range anywhere from $15-$30 a month on average. However, many companies reach out to consumers and the offer discounts on their subscriptions. A person can subscribe by the month, or in increments, such as every six months, or once a year. If a person is lucky enough, they’ll obtain a way to get a year for free. At a very minimum, nearly all companies offer a 30-day free trial.
In any case, a person should make sure that they are subscribing with the legitimate credit monitoring companies. As a matter of fact, one of the major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, offers a three in one credit monitoring product. Since identify theft costs millions of dollars each year to financial institutions, most banks and credit card companies are now offering credit monitor services to their customers as a preemptive strike to the crime.
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