How to Choose a Credit Monitoring Service
Find a credit monitoring review site., Look through the criteria listed., Read the full reviews., Consider any potential biases of the reviewer.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find a credit monitoring review site.
Not all sites are equal and some are actually run by the companies selling the services.
ConsumerReports.org is a non-profit site aimed at consumer protection, so they might be a good choice.
Next Advisor, though not a non-profit, also aims to be independent in their reviews, and they are accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ ranking.
These are the places to go first, but you can also do an individual search on any particular company to see what comes up in a web search.Understand that these companies review the credit monitoring companies, rather than monitoring credit themselves. -
Step 2: Look through the criteria listed.
Review sites will often include what credit bureaus the credit monitoring services monitor.
They will also generally include price comparisons, notes about free trials, and a link to a lengthier review that will describe the company and their experience of it in more detail., To understand the company's strengths and weaknesses, it's best to read the full review.
While a chart of the key differences will allow you to get a basic sense of a company's quality in comparison with other companies, the full review will allow you to get a sense of the experience of working with that company., If you are unfamiliar with the site, or there are significant differences between one particular company and all the rest, you should take the review with a grain of salt.
You may even want to compare any of these review sites with ConsumerReports.org, a nonprofit organization that reviews products and services with the interest of the consumer in mind. -
Step 3: Read the full reviews.
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Step 4: Consider any potential biases of the reviewer.
Detailed Guide
Not all sites are equal and some are actually run by the companies selling the services.
ConsumerReports.org is a non-profit site aimed at consumer protection, so they might be a good choice.
Next Advisor, though not a non-profit, also aims to be independent in their reviews, and they are accredited by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ ranking.
These are the places to go first, but you can also do an individual search on any particular company to see what comes up in a web search.Understand that these companies review the credit monitoring companies, rather than monitoring credit themselves.
Review sites will often include what credit bureaus the credit monitoring services monitor.
They will also generally include price comparisons, notes about free trials, and a link to a lengthier review that will describe the company and their experience of it in more detail., To understand the company's strengths and weaknesses, it's best to read the full review.
While a chart of the key differences will allow you to get a basic sense of a company's quality in comparison with other companies, the full review will allow you to get a sense of the experience of working with that company., If you are unfamiliar with the site, or there are significant differences between one particular company and all the rest, you should take the review with a grain of salt.
You may even want to compare any of these review sites with ConsumerReports.org, a nonprofit organization that reviews products and services with the interest of the consumer in mind.
About the Author
Kathryn Coleman
Committed to making hobbies accessible and understandable for everyone.
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