Daily
or weekly e-mail alerts report significant
changes on your credit report with a
particular credit bureau (unless the
service monitors all three reports).
Depending
on plan, may receive full access to
the credit report on file with the agency.
Swift
notification of fraudulent credit activity.
Swift
notification of new inaccuracies in
your reports.
Do
not prevent an imposter from obtaining
credit in your name.
They
are expensive. They can cost anywhere
from $50 to nearly $200 for year-round
service, depending on the add-ons you
choose and how many reports you want
to monitor. Compare credit monitoring
services at Experian,
Equifax
and TransUnion.
Generally,
you keep getting billed for the services
until you cancel.
Do-it-yourself
credit monitoring
Advantages
Disadvantages
Checking
credit reports annually with each credit
bureau costs nothing if obtained through
annualcreditreport.com.
After the first
request, one report costs around $10
each time or in the $30 range for
a compilation of all three reports
from the three, major nationwide credit
reporting agencies Equifax,
Experian
and TransUnion.
It's
up to the consumer to check credit reports.
Must
buy new credit reports after first free
one.
Checking too often could end up costing more than paying for credit monitoring.
No
e-mail notifications of changes on your
credit report.
Might
miss timely notifications showing fraudulent
activity.
Bank
credit monitoring services
Advantages
Disadvantages
Convenient,
in that the bank manages all the details.
Daily
or weekly e-mail alerts report significant
changes on your credit report with a
particular credit bureau (unless the
service monitors all three reports).
Can
receive full access to the credit report
on file with the credit bureau the bank's
service monitors.
Swift
awareness of fraudulent credit activity.
Swift
awareness of new inaccuracies in your
reports.
Cost
about as much as credit monitoring services
offered by credit bureaus Experian,
Equifax
and TransUnion.
Do
not prevent an imposter from obtaining
credit in your name.
Generally,
you keep getting billed for the service
until you cancel.
Not
available at every bank.
Only
available to customers of the respective
banks.
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