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Using Credit Monitoring To Protect Your Credit History

October 8, 2009 by Silicon Valley Blogger

Would You Use Credit Monitoring To Protect Your Credit History?

I discuss credit reporting matters a lot on this site because I’ve found this to be a confusing topic. For instance, the other day, my spouse thought that AnnualCreditReport.com also provided credit scores for free. Well, they don’t. I thought I’d try to clarify the credit landscape here a bit and welcome you to a discussion on this topic.

The confusion usually surrounds what it is you can get for free. In a nutshell, you can check your credit report for free via AnnualCreditReport.com. Through them, you can order your credit reports from the 3 major bureaus once a year, but that’s it; unfortunately, they don’t provide you with credit scores, so you’ll have to get a hold of them some other way.

So what if you want more than just your credit report? What if you want to be proactive and would like to be alerted to changes in your credit? Perhaps you’d like to get your FICO credit score or would prefer some extra strategies for protecting your identity. Then you may want to look at other sources for this information. Depending on what your goals are, other options may work out for you.

Various Ways To Watch And Protect Your Credit

Besides AnnualCreditReport.com, here’s where you can turn:

1. Credit Monitoring Services
There are people who would rather pay for someone else to package their credit information in an easy to digest fashion. It can be pretty convenient when Equifax Credit Watch Gold offers you access to your credit score and report as well as to automated alerts on credit changes (to all 3 credit reports from major credit bureaus). Other benefits include getting to see your FICO credit score (this is not easy to get for free) and receiving some amount of identity theft insurance. The downside? The main disadvantage is that you’d have to pay up. For some, it’s worth it; while others prefer to try something else.

2. Free Credit Scores
If you need to know your credit score, then it’s important to understand what it is you’re getting. There are credit scoring variations that exist that have been the source of confusion for consumers (including myself). You can get free credit scores from companies like CreditKarma.com and Quizzle.com, but these are non-FICO proprietary scores that may vary from the standard FICO scores most people use. If you’re open to sharing your social security number and can accept a non-FICO score, then these sites are a good place to visit.

3. Credit Monitoring Services With Free Trials
Then there are those ubiquitous credit report monitoring services that shout to the world that they’ve got free credit reports and scores for the taking. The truth is, companies like Smart Credit, FreeCreditReports360.com and FreeCreditReport.com only offer free trials, where you get a taste of their service or product for a limited period of time, typically 7 days. If you sign up, be aware that you’ll be automatically enrolled in a service that will charge you a monthly fee unless you cancel by the end of the trial period. I know a few people who go this route and just cancel the service after the trial is over.

Other Ways To Protect Your Identity For Free

Use A Security Freeze. Credit monitoring services exist because people are willing to pay for credit or identity protection. If you’re after the security that these services offer but don’t want to pay for it (or want to feel safe for very cheap), you can opt for a security or credit freeze. The bureaus will seal your credit information until you tell them otherwise. It’s a bit of a hassle but you won’t have to pay much to do this. But note that it may not be a good idea to try if you need to access your credit reports often, or if you are opening accounts on a regular basis. This can become a major inconvenience in certain cases.

Check Out Your Identity Score. Another option is to check on your ID score to evaluate your risk of identity theft. The site My ID Score offers a free service to help you determine if you’re vulnerable to id theft or fraud. Here’s what I got from their FAQ:

Individuals with high identity scores should take aggressive steps to investigate whether their identity information is at risk. These steps may include reviewing monthly bank account and credit card statements, requesting a free annual credit report, and requesting a fraud alert or security freeze on one’s credit bureau file.

If you’re at risk for identity theft (as per your ID score), then double your efforts to monitor your credit! As you can see, there are many ways to go about keeping an eye on your credit; it just depends on what you’re looking for.

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