Equifax is a credit information agency that operates in the United States and it is one of the big three credit bureaus. The other two are Experian and TransUnion They are large, multinational credit reporting bureaus that collect information on consumers and provide credit reports to financial institutions to help them make sound credit decisions. The database of Equifax comprises consumers' credit reports that have details on loan repayments, credit card balances, bankruptcies, and other credit information. This information is accumulated into what is referred to as credit reports that lenders rely on when assessing credit applications. It also raised many questions from the consumer side, where they are unsure of what exactly Equifax charges for. Especially, some have read advertisements that say that Equifax will cost them $19. 95 every month. This has created lots of working confusion and some people are not very clear about what Equifax does and how much it costs.
The statement that Equifax charges $19. 95 a month is rather questionable and relates to only one of the paid services Equifax provides. This monthly fee is not charged to all consumers; Equifax is the company that has offered the service. Additionally, Equifax makes the majority of its profits not from individual consumers but from its credit report sales and the data and analysis it provides to businesses including banks, lenders, employers, and others. It is a business model mostly based on free-of-charge consumer services, with some added features for a fee.
This is the Equifax Complete Premier, which costs $19. 95 per month. This is a service to protect the identity of consumers and also to solve the issues related to it. This is the feature of tracking your Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports for any breach, and other features of quarterly credit reports and scores, and tools to track changes and fraudulent activities. The $19. 95 plan is very saturated with features compared to their stripped-down free version. However, it is not a mandatory thing for consumers, but it is a convenient option. This fee is optional, but Equifax will continue to gather your credit report information and offer it to lenders anyway.
The only occasion Equifax directly levies a charge of fees from all users is when you order your copy of the credit report or credit score. It is required under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act at the federal level. E-consumers are allowed to demand one credit report from each of the agencies in a year. If you ask for a copy of your record, Equifax can charge you a reasonable fee at the moment at $9. 99. Additional may also come with extra charges in the form of other products or services that accompany the main service such as a credit score or monitoring features. However, outside of these credit report request scenarios, Equifax does not have a blanket $19. 95 per month for every consumer as some people were led to believe.
That is why the $19. 95 monthly cost description may confuse if a person came across Equifax promoting their pay services without putting it into perspective. It also has confused consumers about what Equifax charges through media. Some reports have given the impression that they have to pay Equifax each month and if not, there will be an identity theft, which is not true. The $19. 95 subscription fee is an option to get more comprehensive protection under the brand name Equifax Complete Premier is one of the many offerings available to those who wish to receive additional identity protection services.
To summarize clearly: Not all consumers are made to pay $19. 95 monthly to Equifax. This sum refers to only one of the top identity protection services known as Equifax Complete Premier. Contrary to common belief, Equifax earns most of its revenues from the sale of credit report data to companies, and not from the monthly subscription fees. The only charges that may be required are within the case that within the given one-year period you need extra copies of your credit report than one which was issued to you free of charge. I believe this article should help to answer whether Equifax does indeed require customers to pay $19. 95 monthly fee. Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions
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