TrueCredit.com is a credit monitoring service provided by TrueCredit which is owned by one of the big three credit reporting agencies, TransUnion.
Credit report monitoring services monitor your credit report for any changes and notify you whenever certain change occur. Monitoring your credit allows a consumer to look for errors that may appear on their report, as well as unauthorized changes that may indicate fraud. TrueCredit.com and some of the other credit monitoring services also provide registered users with free credit scores and free credit reports.
TrueCredit.com by TransUnion credit report and monitoring product offers consumer credit reports and scores from the three major credit bureaus, notification of critical changes within 24 hours, and up to $25,000 ID theft insurance at no additional cost.
Credit report monitoring services are fee based service. TrueCredit.com cost $14.95 per month. Despite the cost of this service and other credit repot monitoring services, consumers are signing up to credit monitoring services through a number of different companies and programs.
TrueCredit offers the ability to view your credit report from all three credit reporting agencies online that is designed to be easy to read for consumers. The interface is established to make the credit report easy to understand and therefore making it easier for registered users to manage their credit.
The credit report will contain the individual’s personal information, account history and an account summary, inquiry information, public record information, and creditor information. The three big consumer reporting companies get their information from different sources, the information in one report from one credit reporting company may not contain all, or the same, information in the credit reports from the other credit reporting companies. By checking all three credit reports, a consumer can make sure they are maintaining a strong credit history.
The service also produces a credit score for the individual member. The credit score is a number used by many lenders, insurance companies and other industries as an indicator of how likely a borrower is to repay a contract or loan. The credit score is generated by a mathematical formula utilizing the data from the credit report. The score you’re being shown with TrueCredit isn’t a FICO score though. The FICO score, established by Fair Isaac, is the score that most lenders look at when extending credit. TrueCredit now provides a Vanatage Score as their credit score.
FICO Scores are the most common scores use in the mortgage industry, different financial institutions may use different credit scoring formulas to help them make decisions about extending credit.
When shopping for a credit monitoring service, make sure to fully understand what services they provide and what the total costs for the service will be.
As more people look for information and resources to help manage the financial aspect of their life, credit reports and monitoring services are becoming popular but they are far from necessary tools.
By Federal law, consumers are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus. An amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide consumers with a free copy of your credit report, at the consumers request, once every 12 months. A free annual credit report can be obtained at annualcreditreport.com.