There's no way you can have been watching TV lately and not have been assailed by those commercials from companies that offer you a free credit report. It's amazing but people often don't stop and question what financial justification a company would have, running a nationwide advertising campaign, in order to offer a free product to the public. There has to be at least some kind of revenue generation if only to justify the cost of making and running the commercials. Even if they seem to be looking out for you by showing you what could happen to you should you fail to get your free credit report, there has to be some kind of benefit for them in the whole thing.
Since we see more and more companies jumping in the "get your free credit report" fray, and spending the corresponding advertising dollars, then it has to be a profitable venture. Yet a "free" product doesn't exactly generate profits, so there has to be some kind of exchange of funds going on in order to generate those profits. Viewed from this angle, it then becomes very interesting to wonder if those offers are really free? Or do they come with strings attached?
The short version of the answers to these questions would simply be "No, they are typically not free", and "Yes, they mostly come with strings attached". If you're the type of person who like more detailed answers, then feel free to read on. A more detailed answer would be that just about any offer you see advertised on TV is NOT free, and so are most of the offers you see online. There are free offers, though, and we can help you sort out the free variety from the paid variety.
Most of the free credit report offers do cost money. Most of them, even the ones that are sent out by major banks and lending firms, are really subscription services that let you view your credit report when you want to. Those services are offered directly by the lending companies, or indirectly by one or more of the three major credit bureaus. Experian, Equifax and Transunion are the "big three" credit reporting firms, and because of their clout the other credit bureaus have become largely irrelevant.
Because of the rise of identity theft, there has been a steep rise in the number of companies in the "identity protection" business. What they typically do is that they offer a "free" credit report, which is linked to a membership service. While the focus in the advertisements is on the free report, the fine print on most of these offers clearly states you are agreeing to subscribe to such a service, usually three months to a year at a time, that charges you a monthly fee. This fee, which can range from $6.95 to $19.95 per month, entitles you to a service that alerts you to suspicious activities, credit inquiries and late-payment notices on your account.
With the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the "big three" credit bureaus are each required by law to offer their customers a free credit report every year. They're not required to send it to you, though, so you have to actually ask for it. You can do so by mail, by phone, or over the Internet. Be sure you follow the instructions so you can get your free credit report, the one where you really don't have to pay a dime.
Here are some of the circumstances where a free credit report is legally available to you. 1) When a company denies your credit, insurance or employment application based on information that was in your credit report - you have 60 days from the occurrence to file your request. 2) You're unemployed and are planning to look for a job within 60 days. 3) You're on welfare. 4) Your believe your credit report contains errors and wish to review it.
In case you didn't know it, there's a tremendous amount of competition in the banking industry. In order to keep customers or bring in new ones, banks constantly have to improve their offerings. So some banks have been offering a free credit report, and some form of basic online service that allows you to view and monitor your credit score, when you do business with them, either by getting a credit card issued by them or opening up a bank account with them. Highly desirable (and equally selective) credit cards issuers, such as American Express, also offer their best consumers very competitive packages of services, with credit report access and monitoring almost always being included at no extra cost.
There is no reason to pay for any service if all you need to do is look at your credit report every now and then to make sure that your information is correct. For this you can either get all three credit reports for comparison purposes, or space them 4 months apart for continuous monitoring and prevention of identity theft. Should you want to watch your credit more closely, there are plenty of companies out there that offer these services as part of their package of services, avoiding you the extra cost you'd have to incur by going with a dedicated service.
Because so many life-changing decisions hang on the status of your credit report, it is essential that your credit report be accurate and that you take the necessary steps so that it remains that way. Monitoring services will only alert you, they won't do the legwork to correct anything that might go wrong. It's your responsibility to ensure that your credit report contains no errors, and you can do that without having to pay for it.
Since we see more and more companies jumping in the "get your free credit report" fray, and spending the corresponding advertising dollars, then it has to be a profitable venture. Yet a "free" product doesn't exactly generate profits, so there has to be some kind of exchange of funds going on in order to generate those profits. Viewed from this angle, it then becomes very interesting to wonder if those offers are really free? Or do they come with strings attached?
The short version of the answers to these questions would simply be "No, they are typically not free", and "Yes, they mostly come with strings attached". If you're the type of person who like more detailed answers, then feel free to read on. A more detailed answer would be that just about any offer you see advertised on TV is NOT free, and so are most of the offers you see online. There are free offers, though, and we can help you sort out the free variety from the paid variety.
Most of the free credit report offers do cost money. Most of them, even the ones that are sent out by major banks and lending firms, are really subscription services that let you view your credit report when you want to. Those services are offered directly by the lending companies, or indirectly by one or more of the three major credit bureaus. Experian, Equifax and Transunion are the "big three" credit reporting firms, and because of their clout the other credit bureaus have become largely irrelevant.
Because of the rise of identity theft, there has been a steep rise in the number of companies in the "identity protection" business. What they typically do is that they offer a "free" credit report, which is linked to a membership service. While the focus in the advertisements is on the free report, the fine print on most of these offers clearly states you are agreeing to subscribe to such a service, usually three months to a year at a time, that charges you a monthly fee. This fee, which can range from $6.95 to $19.95 per month, entitles you to a service that alerts you to suspicious activities, credit inquiries and late-payment notices on your account.
With the enactment of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the "big three" credit bureaus are each required by law to offer their customers a free credit report every year. They're not required to send it to you, though, so you have to actually ask for it. You can do so by mail, by phone, or over the Internet. Be sure you follow the instructions so you can get your free credit report, the one where you really don't have to pay a dime.
Here are some of the circumstances where a free credit report is legally available to you. 1) When a company denies your credit, insurance or employment application based on information that was in your credit report - you have 60 days from the occurrence to file your request. 2) You're unemployed and are planning to look for a job within 60 days. 3) You're on welfare. 4) Your believe your credit report contains errors and wish to review it.
In case you didn't know it, there's a tremendous amount of competition in the banking industry. In order to keep customers or bring in new ones, banks constantly have to improve their offerings. So some banks have been offering a free credit report, and some form of basic online service that allows you to view and monitor your credit score, when you do business with them, either by getting a credit card issued by them or opening up a bank account with them. Highly desirable (and equally selective) credit cards issuers, such as American Express, also offer their best consumers very competitive packages of services, with credit report access and monitoring almost always being included at no extra cost.
There is no reason to pay for any service if all you need to do is look at your credit report every now and then to make sure that your information is correct. For this you can either get all three credit reports for comparison purposes, or space them 4 months apart for continuous monitoring and prevention of identity theft. Should you want to watch your credit more closely, there are plenty of companies out there that offer these services as part of their package of services, avoiding you the extra cost you'd have to incur by going with a dedicated service.
Because so many life-changing decisions hang on the status of your credit report, it is essential that your credit report be accurate and that you take the necessary steps so that it remains that way. Monitoring services will only alert you, they won't do the legwork to correct anything that might go wrong. It's your responsibility to ensure that your credit report contains no errors, and you can do that without having to pay for it.
About the Author:
We strongly suggest that people get a no trial credit report, instead of paying for the service. For more of the same type of money-saving tips, feel free to drop by our personal finance blog.
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