Equifax is one of the three main credit reporting agencies (CRAs) present in the United States of America along with Experian and TransUnion. These CRAs gather information from various sources concerning people’s credit history and payment behavior to offer credit reports and credit scores that creditors rely on to assess credit requests. But does Equifax offer credit monitoring services to consumers directly in other words?
What is Credit Monitoring?
Credit monitoring is a service that provides updates on the credit reports of the client and the changes that have been noted. This enables a person to frequently check his or her credit profile to detect any unusual activity that may signify fraud or identity theft. Receiving notification on new credits, accounts created in one’s credit, changes in existing accounts, etc. enables one to quickly protect themselves against any credit risks.
Credit monitoring services are not directly linked to increasing or even altering credit scores. But they do so indirectly by offering the opportunity to detect any inaccurate information that may be detrimental to your scores early enough. Many services also provide consumers with their most recent credit scores and explanations for factors affecting these scores. Some offer you access to your entire credit report on a monthly or yearly basis from one or more of the CRAs.
Why do Credit Monitoring?
Having credit monitoring makes sense for several reasons:
- Early fraud alerts: Being notified immediately that there are some kind of credit transactions going on using their identity prevents greater identity theft.
- Accuracy of credit reports: What you need to know is that you can challenge and make corrections to anything in your credit records that may cause a lower credit score when they are not factual or verified.
- Peace of mind: Regular credit checks offer confidence regarding your credit standing and position regarding credit.
- Building credit history: It can be a good chance for those who have a Credit Score for the first time to go through what can affect the scores.
Equifax Credit Monitoring Products
All three CRAs enable the consumers to request a free copy of their full credit report once each year; nevertheless, they also provide paid credit monitoring services that track the credit reports more closely and inform the consumer of changes.
Equifax has several credit monitoring services available to the public.
Some key ones include:
- Equifax CompleteTM Premier Plan is the most popular of the three offerings and is available for £14. 99 per month.
- Equifax CompleteTM Advantage Plan These services combine to provide users with the Equifax Complete Advantage Plan.
- GWP: Equifax Credit Report & Score Plan
- Equifax Core CreditTM
- Equifax Credit Tracker
Equifax Credit Monitoring is a service that offers its customers certain features.
This is even more convenient if you opt for Equifax’s paid products since you will be able to monitor your credit from the convenience of your own home.
- Daily credit monitoring: Sign up to receive updates and new accounts or inquiries on your Equifax credit report and ensure that you check and correct any wrong information.
- Quarterly Equifax credit score: Make sure you are in touch with the prime rate lenders apply when granting loans and credit facilities. This means that you can easily understand what made up your score and if there are any issues affecting it.
- Annual Equifax credit report: If you have an Equifax report, ensure that you check your full report every year to check for discrepancies to dispute. This could augment the free annual reports that you are eligible for from all three credit reporting agencies.
- Score simulator: When you look at the results of specific activities such as paying off loans or credit cards, you can understand how it affects Equifax's score.
- Fraud alerts: Prevent fraud and put the necessary safeguards in place by seeing new accounts or inquiries that have been made in your name with Equifax.
- Identity restoration: If you are a victim, seek professional advice and call dedicated life agents for emergency identity fraud assistance.
- Lost wallet assistance: Get help in the recovery of the lost ID in case your wallet has been stolen, and help in canceling the missing cards.
Furthermore, Equifax plans make it possible to have online access to your account. Credit reports, scores, and analysis are sensitive information but you can freely access them anytime you sign in.
This is due to the differences in product offerings concerning credit features, the frequency at which credit alerts and scores are offered, additional identity protection services, and monthly subscription costs.
For instance, the Equifax CompleteTM Premier plan offers all the Credit Monitoring & Identity Protection Services, monthly Equifax credit score, and the tracking of your TransUnion credit report every quarter. However, the Equifax Core CreditTM plan only provides the Equifax credit score and report of the consumer and does not come with the additional features and updates that are available every three months.
About the Equifax Credit Monitoring and Signing Up
In the case that you deem an Equifax credit tracking product appropriate for your needs, you can sign up for the service on the Internet. This will require one to decide on which product to use depending on the cost and level of monitoring desired.
Subsequently, the product can be bought online where the client provides credit card details, SSN, current address, and date of birth, among other details that Equifax will use to pull credit reports for identification. In case your enrollment is complete, your account can be activated over the internet after passing through a secure encryption.
Mobile application: in addition to its website, depending on the product, Equifax also provides access through its mobile app for on-the-go credit checks. You will also be able to receive timely emails on any crucial changes, or any feat of suspicion observed on your credit.
The Equifax credit monitoring services are of immense value as they offer important credit alerts and more depth for your current position you may otherwise not see. The security of identifying problems in their early stage, as well as correcting errors, is worth the price that one has to pay for having a subscription to their services on a monthly or annual basis.
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