Best Credit Monitoring Companies of 2024

Hello Genius Credit Monitoring Buyer’s Guide

What is credit monitoring?

Savvy consumers know it’s important to keep track of their credit since it can mean the difference between approved or denied when it comes to a loan, credit card, apartment or more. So it’s very important to stay on top of your credit so there aren’t any surprises when it comes time to apply for a financial product that requires payments over time.

Staying on top of your credit can be very challenging without the help of a credit monitoring service. And if you’re worried about the possibility of identity theft, paying for a robust credit monitoring service is critical since time is of the essence when it comes to protecting your identity.

Credit monitoring services help you track your credit history and score in real-time via alerts and account updates. This can be extremely helpful if you’re trying to improve your credit or avoid identity theft. Many credit monitoring companies will also provide you an insurance policy against identity theft that will pay you back any money stolen from a digital thief.

There are many different credit monitoring services available, so it’s important to compare them and find one that meets your needs. Some credit monitoring services are free, while others charge a monthly fee. Make sure to read the terms and conditions carefully before signing up for any service. As with anything, you get what you pay for so if you’re looking for comprehensive and reliable credit monitoring, we recommend considering a plan that requires a small monthly fee so you can take advantage of real-time alerts and account notices instead of having to wait a month or more between each update.

Whether or not you decide to sign up for a credit monitoring service, it’s important to stay vigilant about your credit health. Review your credit report regularly and dispute any errors you find. Be sure to keep an eye on your credit score so you can catch any potential problems early. By taking these steps, you can help protect your credit and improve your chances of getting approved for loans, credit cards, and other financial products.

What do credit monitoring services typically include?

The best credit monitoring services keep track of any changes to your credit reports from all the of three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

It may keep track of suspicious activity on your credit reports, changes to your credit scores, or both. The types of activity that credit monitoring services may track include:

• New accounts
• Changes to your credit limits
• Large purchases on an account
• New activity on a dormant account
• Credit inquiries
• Missed payments
• Collection accounts
• Bankruptcies

Some credit monitoring services will also provide you with a free credit report and assistance with managing identity theft so that you can correct any fraudulent activity as soon as possible to minimize losses.

Credit Monitoring Really Is a Necessity

Considering how often we hear about major data breaches and hacks in recent years, both credit card fraud and identity theft are a serious concern that no one can afford to ignore.

Your credit information may be stolen from legitimate business transactions, and it can happen at any time, regardless of the precautions you take personally to keep your information safe.

Even if you don’t currently have a credit card, scammers can take your information and open a new account in your name – exposing you to hundreds or even thousands of dollars in losses. All it takes is one data breach or other instance of your identity being stolen to ruin your credit for months or even years.

Without a dependable credit monitoring service, you may not realize that your credit has been compromised until you are denied credit or the bill collection notices start coming in – and by then, it’s too late.

Types of Credit Monitoring Services

Not all credit monitoring services provide the same features. Most of them can be broken into three types of monitoring and/or protection.

1. Credit Report Monitoring – active monitoring of your credit reports for changes that might be linked to fraud.
2. Identity Theft Protection – active monitoring of your personal information such as your social security number, registered credit cards or bank account numbers to be sure they aren’t compromised online.
3. Comprehensive Credit Monitoring – a combination of credit report monitoring and identity theft protection.

Which credit monitoring service should I choose?

When evaluating credit monitoring services, it’s important to compare your needs to what each service offers.

To give you an idea of what kind of credit monitoring might be right for you, consider this checklist of recommended actions you’ll need to take if you’ve been a victim of identity theft:

• Call the companies where the fraud occurred.
• Place a fraud alert on your credit report.
• Get a copy of your credit report to look for other problems.
• Monthly access to your credit score.
• Report the fraud to the FTC and the police.
• Close any credit card accounts opened in your name.
• Cancel any other types of account fraudulently opened in your name.
• Dispute charges through your credit card company.
• Dispute any negative accounts on your credit report caused by the fraud.

If you feel comfortable handling these tasks (and more) on your own, you can probably get by with a credit monitoring service that alerts you of any changes in your credit reports without any extra support.

However, a more complete credit monitoring service makes sense if you want to monitor for things like your personal or financial information appearing online on well-known financial black markets.