Posts Tagged ‘Credit Monitoring Service’

Instant Online Credit Report Pros and Cons

Posted in Finance on 02/09/2011 08:08 pm by
L. Sampson asked:




Knowing what is on your credit report is important and with the plethora of companies that offer instant online credit reports for free, getting a copy of yours is easier than ever. There are good reasons to take advantage free online credit reports, but with anything that contains your personal information, there are reasons to be cautious.

Benefits of getting an instant online credit report

Having instant access to your credit report can come in handy. If you are heading out to go car shopping, you might want to quickly peruse your current credit report so you know your credit worthiness before you talk to the finance people at the dealership. Often companies that offer these services provide you with a consumer friendly report that is much easier to read and understand than the official credit reports offered through the 3 credit bureaus.

Risks to consider when getting an instant online credit report

As with anything that requires you to enter your personal information, it is important that you only deal with reputable companies. Over the last few years, there as been an upswing in fraudulent companies offering free credit reports and then stealing personal information from their customers. Typically the victims are solicited through emails advertising free instant online credit reports, so be skeptical of any advertisements for free credit reports that show up in your email inbox.

When you have found a reputable company to request your free instant online credit report from, make sure you know all the terms and conditions that come with the free report. Some free reports are only available if you sign up for a monthly credit monitoring service for which you will be billed. This isn’t a problem if you are interested in having your credit monitored, but can be inconvenient at best and expensive at worst if you have to pay monthly for a service you really don’t want.

Loretta
 

Free Credit Report – Really

Posted in Finance on 09/21/2010 02:29 am by
George Burk asked:




2005 marks the year that consumers will be able to get a free credit report each year. The roll out of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act signed into law by President Bush actually began last December 1. If you didn’t know about it, don’t worry. You haven’t missed the boat. Not everyone is eligible to get their credit report. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is allowing the credit bureau’s to implement the program piecemeal so as not to overload the new credit report system. Millions of consumers are expected to take advantage of the free reports.

Last December, consumers from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming were able to take advantage of the free credit report. Next March, the Midwest will have access to free credit reports. The South has to wait till June, and the East must wait until September 2005.

After your eligible, you can request you free credit report from a web site, by calling a toll free number, or by requesting it in writing. The web site address is AnnualCreditReport.com. This website was created by the credit bureaus. The toll free number is (877)-322-8228, which is also (877)-FTC-HELP if that’s easier to remember. The address to write to is Annual Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA., 30348-5281. You will not be asked to sign up for a trial subscription for a credit monitoring service after requesting your credit report.

Your not limited to one free credit report a year. You can request three – one from each of the credit bureaus: Exper

 

Free Credit Report – How to Obtain Yours

Posted in Finance on 02/27/2010 10:26 am by
Pamela S. Stevens asked:




Most major reporting agencies, will provide you a free credit card report and credit score provided you submit your credit card number and identifying information. In most cases, if you do not cancel your membership during the trial period they will charge your card for one of their credit services.

What information is provided on a credit report?
Generally, beyond identifying information credit reports provide court related information such as bankruptcies, court records, tax liens and so on, credit inquires, credit card debt and payments histories.

What is a credit score and what is considered a good score?
This is a statistical method for rating credit based on the information provided by the credit report. Generally, a score of 760 or more is considered excellent, a score of 700-759 is good, 600-700 is viewed as okay and below 600 is judged to be bad. Though lenders have different policies on what kind of loan terms are available based on your score, even if your score is in the 600 range you may still be able to qualify for a certain line of credit.

FreeCreditReport.com
FreeCreditReport.com gathers credit reports from the main reporting bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. At this site, you first sign up for a trial period. To receive your free report during the seven day trial period, you have to provide contact information, SSN and credit card information. Through this reporting service you can get a free copy of your credit report and score delivered online and it is printable. After the seven day trial period, they charge $14.95 per month for their Advantage Credit Monitoring service, designed to notify you when a creditor reports changes with your report and score.

Experian
Through Experian you can receive a free report and score on your credit from the aforementioned three reporting agencies. To receive your free credit report you just have to simply provide your contact information, SSN and credit card information. Once you submit your information and receive your report you have nine days to cancel before they charge $14.95 to your credit card for their Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring Service, again designed to let you know when there is activity of any kind taking place that impacts your score and report.

Equifax
After providing your contact information, ID verification and credit card information to Equifax, you will receive a credit report using the big three and your FICO (Fair Isaac Company) score. However, this is not a free report; Equifax requires that you sign up for the $12.95 per month Equifax Credit Watch service. To receive a totally free credit report they will refer you to annualcreditreport.com.

If you want to do more than just view your credit report and score and are interested in credit monitoring or identification services, it may be a good idea to ask for a report from all three agencies to see if they offer the kind of service you desire. However, if you are not interested in a credit service just to monitor your credit card debt and other financial information you can receive on free annual credit report from http://www.annualcreditreport.com.

Jorge
 

Free Triple Credit Report

Posted in Finance on 02/01/2010 04:47 am by
Bill Smithson asked:




As you have possibly heard, there is a way to get a copy of your Experian credit report, Transunion credit report, and Equifax credit report completely free. Those commercials with the catchy tunes advertising your Free Credit Report are only telling you half the truth, though. They will gladly give you a copy of your credit report, but they require you to sign up for their Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring Service.

This costs $9.99 per month, and is absolutely unnecessary. Don’t let yourself get sucked into their scheme as they suck the money from your wallet. Yes, you can access your credit reports whenever you want, but you are stuck with that monthly charge until you decide to unsubscribe. Many people don’t realize that they are signing up for this, though, so untold millions of people are trapped into paying this monthly fee and don’t even know it.

Don’t let yourself get hooked into this trap. Get the knowledge that you need in order to stay on top of your credit without making your situation worse. The site at the end of this article will show you everything you need to know to take control of your credit. It really is possible to get your credit reports for free, and without signing up for a monthly service.

With the right strategy, you can get copies of your free, and easily get the credit bureaus to remove bad and erroneous data on your reports. It really isn’t that difficult, and with the right guidance you’ll learn enough to save you thousands of dollars in reduced interest that would have been paid with a lower credit score.

April