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Best Credit Monitoring Service

Question: I'm trying to figure out what credit monitoring co is the best. I currently have freecreditreport.com that monitors my expirian and gives me the score. i recently went to the transunion site and tried out their free monitoring system. In comparing scores freecreditreport and truecredit.com have over a fifty point difference on my experian account. So it leaves me to wonder which one is accurate or which is thebest credit monitoring system.

Answer: To be honest, I cannot say that one credit monitoring service is “better” than another -- and in fact most provide very similar services.

I have tested lifelock.com, and it seems to be a good service.

I do want you to be aware, however, that I do not think that any credit monitoring service is a great service for consumers, since it is something you can do yourself for free. For an outline of how to monitor your own credit, you should visit:
Free Credit Monitoring

You can obtain a free copy of your credit report once a year from each of the three credit bureaus by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com Once you have obtained a copy of each of your reports, carefully review them for errors, and disputes as necessary with the appropriate bureaus.

You mention in your question that there is a significant difference between your Experian and Transunion credit scores. There are two primary reasons why the same consumer can have different credit scores with each of the three major credit bureaus. The first reason is that the three bureaus use similar,

but not identical, formulas for calculating a credit score based on the information in your credit reports. The second is that each of your three credit reports can contain significantly different information about your credit history. With each credit bureau using a different formula to calculating your credit score, and using different data, it is no wonder that the results can differ significantly.

There are several popular credit scoring models used by the credit bureaus, developed as proprietary formulas by various companies. Some of the most popular are CreditXpert, PLUS (developed by Experian), and, the most well known, FICO (developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, www.fico.com ).

While each of these models looks at the same basic aspects of your credit history, slight variations in how different factors are weighted mean that, even when based on the exact same credit history information, the resulting scores can vary by 50 points or more. The variance caused by scoring models could easily account for the difference between your Transunion and Experian scores.

In addition to using different scoring models, the three credit bureaus are likely showing different credit history information on your

credit reports. It is quite normal for the bureaus to report some different information from one another. I encourage you to carefully review the information on all three of your credit reports to make sure that everything appearing on the reports is accurate. Again, if you find any incorrect or unknown listings, you should dispute them with the credit bureau showing the inaccurate data. The Federal Trade Commission offers a helpful guide to disputing items on your credit reports, available at
FTC Guide to Disputing Credit Report Items

Lenders are aware of the potential problems that can result from differences in the scoring models and information used by the different bureaus, which is why many lenders use your middle credit score. This fact is a good indication that wide variations in credit scores are a common occurrence.

For more information about credit scoring, credit reports, and how they affect you, I encourage you to visit the Bills.com Credit Resources page at http://www.bills.com/credit/

I hope this information helps you Find. Learn. Save.

Good Luck,
Bill
www.bills.com

Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

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Bill has answered all sorts of questions and has been able to provide those in need of financial guidance with helpful and valuable advice and information on their specific financial area of interest. If you need specific guidance on any of the above mentioned financial areas, feel free to Ask Bill your financial questions and get better informed. Also, make sure to get a free financial health check-up with Bills IQ!

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