Free Credit Report and Fee-based Credit Monitoring Services

May 1st was the one of the three times in a year that we request a free credit report from one of the three credit agencies. We have been doing this, getting a free credit report every four months, for several years and it had worked out quite well for us. All I need to do is set up an email alert to remind me it’s time to pull a report. This time I got the report from Experian and my wife got her from Equifax.

To get your free credit report, be aware that the only authorized website for free credit report is AnnualCreditReport.com, which you can find on FTC’s website (click Consumer Protection -> Credit & Loans -> Credit Reports, or use this link, then you will find the Annual Credit Report link on the right). Also it has to be exactly 12 months since you obtained your last report from the same credit agency, not even one day earlier; otherwise your request will be denied.

With Annual Credit Report, you can only get a report for free, without a credit score. To get a credit score, you will have to use paid services. I usually get my credit score through myFico.com and use information from Equifax instead of from just any credit bureau so I can compare the changes over time. If you prefer to have both the credit report and credit score at the same time when getting your Annual Credit Report, you will have the option to add the credit score to your purchase with extra fees. For example, when I ordered my Equifax credit score from myFICO.com three months ago, I paid $15.95 for the report plus the score. If, however, you want to get your score at the same time you order your Annual Credit Report, you just need to pay $7.95 extra for the Equifax score. Seems to be quite a good deal.

There are many other places where you can purchase credit report, credit score and credit monitoring services. The following is a list of fee-based credit service providers I collected.

TrueCredit fro TransUnion

• Trial period: None
• What are offered:
  • Unlimited access to all three credit reports and credit scores
  • Notification within 24 hours of critical changes to all 3 reports
  • $25,000 ID Theft Insurance at no additional cost
  • No obligation, cancel anytime.
• Regular:
  • $14.95 per month

ScoreWatch from Equifax [Affiliate link]

• Trial period: 30 days free
• What are offered:
  • Continuous score monitoring and notification when a change in FICO score impacts the interest rate you are likely to receive
  • Daily monitoring of Equifax credit report with email notification of key changes
  • Two Free Score Power reports plus discounts on additional Score Power reports
• Regular:
  • $8.95 per month

CreditExpert from Experian

• Trial period: 30 days free
• What are offered:
  • Daily monitoring of your credit report and alerts of key changes alert you of potential fraudulent activity.
  • Unlimited access to Experian Credit Report and PLUS Score with paid membership.
  • Receive instantly personal credit report and credit score online
• Regular:
  • $9.95 per month
  • One-time purchase: 3-bureau credit report and a credit score for $34.95, Experian credit report and PLUS Score for $14.50

ScoreWatch from myFICO [Affiliate link]

• Trial period: 30 days free
• What are offered:
  • Credit monitors important changes to your FICO score and Equifax credit report
  • Alerts when important changes are detected
• Regular:
  • $89.95 annual fee

IdentityMonitoring from Citi

• Trial period: 30 days free
• What are offered:
  • Credit Monitoring every business day to keep track of your credit file activity
  • Alerts when there’s certain activity, allowing you to detect fraud
  • Credit report and score free with enrollment
  • 3-in-1 credit Report, score and monitoring access at no additional cost
  • Reimburse up to $25,000 of eligible identity theft recovery expenses
• Regular:
  • $12.95 per month

CreditKeeper from HSBC

• Trial period: 30 days free
• What are offered:
  • Unlimited access to your credit reports and score
  • Daily automated credit monitoring to alert you to changes on your credit reports
• Regular:
  • $9.95 per month

CreditSecure from American Express

• Trial period: 30 days free, for AMEX cardmembers only
• What are offered:
  • Unlimited access to 3-bureau credit report and Credit Scores from all 3 bureaus after the trial period
  • Daily monitoring of all three credit reports with an e-mail alert when critical changes are detected
  • Identity Theft coverage policy for up to $5,000 per occurrence
  • Track your score each month with Experian PLUS Score Trending
• Regular:
  • $11.99 per month

IdentityGuard from Costco

• Trial period: None
• What are offered:
  • 3-in-1 credit report & 3 credit scores
  • 3-bureau credit monitoring & alerts
  • Monthly credit report & score
• Regular:
  • $9.49 per month for Gold Star members and $7.49 per month for Executive members

PrivacyGuard

• Trial period: $1 for the first 2 months
• What are offered:
  • Credit report from 3 credit reporting agencies
  • Credit score instant access from 3 credit reporting agencies
  • Daily monitoring of credit
  • Up to $10,000 reimbursement for certain expenses you incur if your identity is stolen
• Regular
  • $129.99 annual fee
  • Single-bureau credit report for $9.99, three-bureau $34.99

PrivacyMatters

• Trial period: 7 days free
• What are offered:
  • Unlimited to 3-in-1 credit report
  • Triple credit scores, showing all three credit scores from the national credit reporting bureaus
  • Triple bureau credit monitoring with automated e-mail alert whenever new activity that may affect your credit report or credit score occurs
• Regular:
  • $29.95 per month
  • One-time purchase of 3-bureau credit report for $29.95

Featured information

Make sure to learn the latest information on bonds and other kinds of investments. Don’t fall behind on the personal finance news that affects you every day, always keep up to date on the happenings in the investment world.

The insurance quote gives full preview of the terms and conditions of an insurance company. If the debtors want to have fixation of their interest rates on the minimum level, there is a need of credit card consolidation. The dental insurance companies offer very reasonable rates of medical treatment of the dentists. The insurance quote of the various insurance corporations demonstrates the critical view of all pros and cons of manifesto of certain company.

Popularity: 29% [?]

If you enjoyed reading this post, please consider subscribing to my full RSS feed. You can also subscribe by email to have daily updates delivered right to your inbox.

• Ready to buy stocks/ETF with zero commission? Check out the Zecco review and try Zecco Trading with these Zecco promotion codes to get 10 free trades/month.
• Seeking higher returns for your cash? Take a look at the latest interest rates from leading online banks and find out where to get the most for your money.
• Earn up to 5% cash back from these cash back credit cards while shopping at gas stations, grocery stores, or online.