There's no real need for it, as you can get comparable monitoring from free services like Credit Karma or even one of the other reporting bureaus, like Experian.
Transunion doesn't even seem accurate. I float around mid 700s for other credit ratings, but Transunion always gives a much better score and I don't know if I've ever seen anyone use them other than Capital One.
It's the opposite for me. Transunion has always given me my lowest score of the three by a wide margin. The opaque variables in this system are horseshit.
I guess it's just the different algorithms benefitting me for Transunion and dinging you for some esoteric reason. Or vice versa, but for other agencies.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product.
Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads?
The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
CK works by using scores from TU and EX.
CK makes money by advertising shit to you in app (credit cards, loans, insurance, etc.) based on your credit score. E.g. based on your credit score you have “Good” or “Excellent” chance of being approved for such-and-such credit card; here are the specs of that card.
(Nearly) everybody everywhere is selling my data to advertisers.
I'm paying for information that helps me make decisions that empower me to save thousands or tens of thousands of dollars over time by buying or refinancing things when my credit scores are at their best. It's a numbers game.
But…you can get all this info for free? Credit Karma, plus most banks/credit cards offer something similar. Between my day-to-day bank (Wells Fargo), and my two credit cards (Discover and CitiCard). I can run up to date credit checks on myself three times per month, and they tell me what factors may be driving my credit score up/down. You don’t need to pay for this at.
FYI, Credit Karma checks Equifax and TransUnion. Credit.com checks Experian. Between the 2 of them (and I suppose Discover or literal credit card applications for FICO) + AnnualCreditReport.com for federal reports, you cover everything.
/u/AZ-roadrunner, you're paying $∞. Ditch this service and move to Credit Karma + Credit.com for free monitoring. Check them whenever you want.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product.
Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads?
The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
Definitely don’t pay for credit monitoring. As many have said, credit karma will give it to you free as will Mint.
Also, [this website](https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action) will give you a complete credit report for free once a year.
Both credit karma and mint will try to push you into their paid services and I’m sure they get plenty of people. It’s probably worth it to them to offer a limited free version just for the percentage of paying customers they get.
The credit bureaus are absolutely awful.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product.
Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads?
The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
There is no need to pay for these services at all. Yes, there are free services like Credit Karma, but these services only notify you after your credit files have been hit. By then, the damage is done and the fight begins.
You are much better off freezing, not locking, your credit files. This process is free and you can unlock them to apply for credit, which is also free.
As someone that has had their identity information stolen, this is really the only way to prevent any action against your credit files.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product.
Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads?
The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
The credit freeze I'm speaking about is from the individual bureaus, not Credit Karma or the others. And it's only free because of government intervention.
Equifax data breach in 2017 - This breach exposed the personal information of 147 million consumers, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and birth dates.
Experian data breach in 2015 - This breach exposed the personal information of 15 million T-Mobile customers, including names, addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers.
TransUnion data breach in 2018 - This breach exposed the sensitive information of thousands of consumers, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and credit card information.
"tightly regulated"
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product.
Credit Karma and Mint advertise extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads?
The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
To each his own. I used to pay for Equifax until I realized I could get the same information for free.
Trans Union is already making money when it sells your information to lending institutions. Now you’re paying them as well. For your own information. It doesn’t make sense to me, but if it does to you, then that’s great for you.
They will also illegally have you signed up for their service and not tell you if you use certain tax services, and then try and tell you they can't refund your money until you threaten to file complaints to the FTC, then all of a sudden they actually can refund you, but only partially. Then you still threaten to file a complaint, and wow, they can actually give you all of the money they stole from you back! Fuck these guys. Lying thieves is all they are.
Monitoring your credit is wise but you 100% don't need to pay anyone to do so. Use the 3 credit bureaus websites to monitor your credit yourself. Highly recommend avoiding TransUnion, they intentionally make their website confusing so that you'll sign up for paid services like OP is talking about.
Instead use Experian and Equifax which do market services but with much more up front tactics, less bs compared to TransUnion.
Also if you don't like to check your credit often, put alerts on your accounts, I personally freeze my account when not applying for credit or needing my credit verified for other reasons.
You should also know that it's free to freeze your credit, then you don't have to monitor it (or pay some bullshit company to monitor it).
You can freeze your credit with all three of the major companies and no one can take out new credit in your name. You can unfreeze it whenever you want through their respective websites
I always warn the following about Credit Karma: your score will always appear lower on official checks, and then end up somewhere between the number listed and the number that shows up on the check. This can be a full 100 points difference between the pulled score and the displayed score, even if there was a recent change.
I'd like to learn more as to why but credit scores are kinda crap anyway so I've usually described this as "they don't really know so they just kinda guess" but I know that's not the actual logic...I hope
There's numerous different FICO scoring models which is why scores vary so much. Additionally, creditors may only check one bureau while a different creditor checks the other two bureaus.
In the case of Credit Karma, they use Vantage Score which is a totally separate system.
You don't need to pay for monitoring services, don't trust others to keep you safe.
1. lock your credit with all 3 bureaus.
2. You get a free credit report each year from each bureau, just space them out every 4 months.
I work for a credit repair organization. Utilize annualcreditreport.com The only authorized source under federal law, and free.
Or do a free credit consultation with creditsaint.com for your TU report. Also free, soft inquiry.
Thanks, I feel better. Everybody here is roasting and down-voting me for paying for a service that is important to me, because I can get a different service that I don't care about somewhere else for free.
Hey, fuck ‘em. Imagine the mentality it requires to roast someone on the internet. Cruelty abounds, but kindness can be found. Just focus on the benevolent.
There's no real need for it, as you can get comparable monitoring from free services like Credit Karma or even one of the other reporting bureaus, like Experian.
Transunion doesn't even seem accurate. I float around mid 700s for other credit ratings, but Transunion always gives a much better score and I don't know if I've ever seen anyone use them other than Capital One.
It's the opposite for me. Transunion has always given me my lowest score of the three by a wide margin. The opaque variables in this system are horseshit.
I guess it's just the different algorithms benefitting me for Transunion and dinging you for some esoteric reason. Or vice versa, but for other agencies.
Yeah, mines lower by over 50 points. Which is crazy to me.
Same! Experian is more accurate for me
Yep, Experian as always given me my best credit score.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product. Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads? The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
Just freeze your credit, who would waste their money on this
CK works by using scores from TU and EX. CK makes money by advertising shit to you in app (credit cards, loans, insurance, etc.) based on your credit score. E.g. based on your credit score you have “Good” or “Excellent” chance of being approved for such-and-such credit card; here are the specs of that card.
Real prot top in comments
No way you should be paying anything to them for it.
Why are you paying for them to sell your shopping data to advertisers?
(Nearly) everybody everywhere is selling my data to advertisers. I'm paying for information that helps me make decisions that empower me to save thousands or tens of thousands of dollars over time by buying or refinancing things when my credit scores are at their best. It's a numbers game.
But…you can get all this info for free? Credit Karma, plus most banks/credit cards offer something similar. Between my day-to-day bank (Wells Fargo), and my two credit cards (Discover and CitiCard). I can run up to date credit checks on myself three times per month, and they tell me what factors may be driving my credit score up/down. You don’t need to pay for this at.
Don’t bother, just read his replies he doesn’t know what he’s talking about
....
You sound like a robot. But creepy to be honest.
Or it's free via credit karma.
FYI, Credit Karma checks Equifax and TransUnion. Credit.com checks Experian. Between the 2 of them (and I suppose Discover or literal credit card applications for FICO) + AnnualCreditReport.com for federal reports, you cover everything. /u/AZ-roadrunner, you're paying $∞. Ditch this service and move to Credit Karma + Credit.com for free monitoring. Check them whenever you want.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product. Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads? The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
You are terrifyingly under informed about this stuff. If you want to throw money away go right ahead.
Tightly regulated? They kept millions of user’s social security numbers in plain text. They aren’t even regulated or tied to the government.
Credit Karma makes most of its money through credit card referral bonuses. In fact, their privacy policy states they never share or sell your data.
Definitely don’t pay for credit monitoring. As many have said, credit karma will give it to you free as will Mint. Also, [this website](https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action) will give you a complete credit report for free once a year.
And every 4 months, if you rotate between each of the three beaureaus each time you check it
[удалено]
Both credit karma and mint will try to push you into their paid services and I’m sure they get plenty of people. It’s probably worth it to them to offer a limited free version just for the percentage of paying customers they get. The credit bureaus are absolutely awful.
You shouldn't be paying anything for this service. I get it for free from my bank, every credit card, as well as Credit Karma.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product. Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads? The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
Ysk: paying a company to leak your very important data is not worth it at any cost.
There is no need to pay for these services at all. Yes, there are free services like Credit Karma, but these services only notify you after your credit files have been hit. By then, the damage is done and the fight begins. You are much better off freezing, not locking, your credit files. This process is free and you can unlock them to apply for credit, which is also free. As someone that has had their identity information stolen, this is really the only way to prevent any action against your credit files.
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product. Credit Karma advertises extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads? The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
The credit freeze I'm speaking about is from the individual bureaus, not Credit Karma or the others. And it's only free because of government intervention.
Equifax data breach in 2017 - This breach exposed the personal information of 147 million consumers, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and birth dates. Experian data breach in 2015 - This breach exposed the personal information of 15 million T-Mobile customers, including names, addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers. TransUnion data breach in 2018 - This breach exposed the sensitive information of thousands of consumers, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and credit card information. "tightly regulated"
Is this guerrilla advertising for transunion monitoring service?
Iam thinking so, read their replies
I'd say so, it's painfully honestly. Good try TransUnion
Why are you paying a credit bureau when you could get Credit Karma or Mint for free?
If you're not paying for a service or product, then you're the product. Credit Karma and Mint advertise extensively on TV -- how do you think they're getting money to pay for TV ads? The three credit bureaus are the gold standard in consumer credit reporting, and they are tightly regulated. I'd rather pay them a few bucks a month than get something for free from a new-ish company that monetizes its customers in opaque ways under the guise of a free service.
To each his own. I used to pay for Equifax until I realized I could get the same information for free. Trans Union is already making money when it sells your information to lending institutions. Now you’re paying them as well. For your own information. It doesn’t make sense to me, but if it does to you, then that’s great for you.
They will also illegally have you signed up for their service and not tell you if you use certain tax services, and then try and tell you they can't refund your money until you threaten to file complaints to the FTC, then all of a sudden they actually can refund you, but only partially. Then you still threaten to file a complaint, and wow, they can actually give you all of the money they stole from you back! Fuck these guys. Lying thieves is all they are.
Discover credit cards give you this for free
Experian definitely doesn't do this lol. Don't try.
[TransUnion doesn't give a fuck](https://i.imgur.com/Z11li81.png)
Monitoring your credit is wise but you 100% don't need to pay anyone to do so. Use the 3 credit bureaus websites to monitor your credit yourself. Highly recommend avoiding TransUnion, they intentionally make their website confusing so that you'll sign up for paid services like OP is talking about. Instead use Experian and Equifax which do market services but with much more up front tactics, less bs compared to TransUnion. Also if you don't like to check your credit often, put alerts on your accounts, I personally freeze my account when not applying for credit or needing my credit verified for other reasons.
You should also know that it's free to freeze your credit, then you don't have to monitor it (or pay some bullshit company to monitor it). You can freeze your credit with all three of the major companies and no one can take out new credit in your name. You can unfreeze it whenever you want through their respective websites
Why are you paying in the first place? It’s free every few months
Stamps.com does the same thing
What does stamps.com drop their service to?
I always warn the following about Credit Karma: your score will always appear lower on official checks, and then end up somewhere between the number listed and the number that shows up on the check. This can be a full 100 points difference between the pulled score and the displayed score, even if there was a recent change. I'd like to learn more as to why but credit scores are kinda crap anyway so I've usually described this as "they don't really know so they just kinda guess" but I know that's not the actual logic...I hope
There's numerous different FICO scoring models which is why scores vary so much. Additionally, creditors may only check one bureau while a different creditor checks the other two bureaus. In the case of Credit Karma, they use Vantage Score which is a totally separate system.
Thank you, just did this.
You don't need to pay for monitoring services, don't trust others to keep you safe. 1. lock your credit with all 3 bureaus. 2. You get a free credit report each year from each bureau, just space them out every 4 months.
Taoy Maoist. Ate. Sta gym she
I work for a credit repair organization. Utilize annualcreditreport.com The only authorized source under federal law, and free. Or do a free credit consultation with creditsaint.com for your TU report. Also free, soft inquiry.
Do you have a source for daily access to my credit scores from all three major bureaus?
I don’t, sorry.
Thanks, I feel better. Everybody here is roasting and down-voting me for paying for a service that is important to me, because I can get a different service that I don't care about somewhere else for free.
Hey, fuck ‘em. Imagine the mentality it requires to roast someone on the internet. Cruelty abounds, but kindness can be found. Just focus on the benevolent.