If you are thinking of buying a home or you’re merely curious about your credit score, it’s a good idea to monitor your finances, including your credit report. If you want to keep track of your status, credit monitoring services can help you get an accurate snapshot of your credit health. Read on to learn more about some credit monitoring services of 2020, along with more information about how these services can help you stay on top of your financial situation.
What are the Best Credit Monitoring Services?
Now that you’re more familiar with credit monitoring services and how they can help you, how do you know which options are the best of the bunch? The answer largely depends on what your current goals are in terms of your finances and future. If you’re thinking of making a significant purchase like a new car or home, it’s a good idea to enroll in the most thorough monitoring services available. On the other hand, if you’re just curious or only need to check your report and score occasionally, free services like Credit Karma can be a good option. We’ve broken down some credit monitoring services to help you decide which one is right for you.
RocketHQ
This is a free service where you can sign up and learn how your credit score and finance work, improve your credit score by learning basic steps to get a better credit score, as well as help you wiht a plan for whatever your goal is, such as buying a home.
RocketHQ will give you a free TransUnion Credit Report and will track your VantageScore 3.0 crdit socre. You don’t need to worry about safety as your account is protected wiht a 256-bit encrypted connections, just like at banks and other financial companies. Finally, this service offers additional financial education and expert advice to help answer your questions about credit and help you make better decisions financially.
myFICO
This service includes identity theft protection that will cover up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, restoration services, and other services like lost wallet protection. The company offers a variety of plans and service levels customized to the size of your family. You can even enroll everyone in your household under one account for easy access. The FICO Basic plan gives you monthly updates to your FICO score along with Experian credit reports. This plan will cost you $19.95 per month, and you can cancel at any time.
For a more in-depth service, consider the FICO Advanced plan, which gives you quarterly updates on 28 FICO scores. You’ll also receive your credit report from all three credit bureaus and identity theft protection that includes black market website surveillance. The FICO Premier plan gives you the same services as FICO Advanced, but you’ll get monthly updates on your score instead of quarterly. These plans are also a bit expensive. Their app is straightforward to use and gives you all your information at a glance.
PrivacyGuard
You’ll get credit monitoring for your reports and scores from all three credit bureaus with PrivacyGuard. This service also offers daily credit monitoring alerts sent via text, email, or your phone any time anything on your report changes. If you’re testing the waters of credit monitoring, PrivacyGuard offers a trial period for just $1 for the first 14 days. After the trial periods end, you’ll pay a monthly subscription fee based on whichever plan you decide to enroll in.
You can get basic ID protection for $9.99 per month from PrivacyGuard that looks for any signs of possible identity theft via the World Wide Web and the Dark Web. This service also scans public records and other places where the possibility of identity theft is lurking. You’ll also receive up to $1 million in identity theft insurance.
With the Credit Protection plan from PrivacyGuard, you’ll get all three-bureau credit reports and scores, daily credit monitoring, and use of the credit score simulator tool. This plan costs $19.99 per month. You can upgrade to the Total Protection plan for $24.99 per month., which includes all of the features of both the Credit Protection and ID Protection Plans.
Credit Karma
Perhaps one of the most well-known credit monitoring services, Credit Karma is also free. This service has no trial period and no subscription costs, and you can sign in to your account to check on your credit at any time.
You do not need to provide Credit Karma with a credit card number, and the service gives you access to your TransUnion and Equifax report scores. The service uses the VantageScore 3.0, which is updated every time you log in.
In addition to your VantageScore, your credit report information is updated on a weekly basis. Credit Karma also provides you with alerts if any suspicious or unusual activity is detected. If you need to see your Experian report, you’ll need to access that through a separate provider. Overall, Credit Karma is an excellent option for those who need to get a quick idea of their credit health. Thanks to the easy interface, it’s a breeze to find out where you stand in just a few clicks.
Experian IdentityWorks
Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus and is not included with the Credit Karma report. Experian’s IdentityWorks service gives you monitoring for all three credit reports. This service also scans the Dark Web to look for any breaches in your identification. It also notifies you if a sex offender moves into your neighborhood and detects whenever crimes are reported or booked in your name. It’s a comprehensive monitoring service when it comes to scanning for unusual activity.
IdentityWorks also detects if a payday loan is opened in your name, alerts you to any address changes under your name, and looks for account takeovers if a new account is opened under your social security number.
Another perk to Experian’s credit monitoring service is the flexible plans for families. A plan for one adult starts at $9.99 per month, while plans for one adult and up to 10 children start at $14.99. If there are two adults in the family, you can enroll for each adult and up to 10 children starting at $19.99.
The plan from Experian includes a 30-day trial subscription. This makes it easy to decide if the level of service is right for you. If you choose to cancel before the 30-day trial period ends, you won’t be charged.
Protect Your Credit with Monitoring Services
With help from some of the best credit monitoring services, you can keep track of your scores, your private information, and your financial health. No matter what your goals are, these services are a crucial part of keeping up with your credit to help you achieve your goals. Make sure you enroll in the monitoring service that gives you everything you need to make the best decisions possible for your financial future. For more information about how you can manage your finances and learn how to lower your bills today.