Regular credit monitoring is an important routine practice, since it helps you track your credit score and spot fraud early.
But in order to get a comprehensive look into your credit file, you need to be thorough. Three-bureau credit monitoring alerts you of changes on credit reports from all three credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
Without triple-bureau protection, you can miss errors that may only appear on one of the three credit reports. That's bad news if you apply for credit and a lender pulls the report with errors you didn't know about, potentially jeopardizing your approval odds.
Below, we explain how you can get three-bureau credit monitoring, so you can secure your credit information.
How to get triple-bureau credit monitoring
Triple-bureau credit monitoring is found with most paid credit monitoring services and some identity theft services. Free services typically only alert you of credit report changes with one bureau, though CreditWise® from Capital One monitors both TransUnion and Experian.
Here are some of the best credit monitoring services with triple-bureau protection:
IdentityForce®
Cost
UltraSecure Individual: $19.90 per month or $199.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Individual: $34.90 per month or $349.90 per year; UltraSecure Family: $24.90 per month or $249.90 per year; UltraSecure+Credit Family: $39.90 per month or $399.90 per year
Credit bureaus monitored
3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore® 3.0, with UltraSecure+Credit Individual and UltraSecure+Credit Family plans only
Dark web scan
Yes, with all plans
Identity theft insurance
Yes, at least $1 million with all plans
Terms apply.
PrivacyGuard®
Cost
$9.99 to $24.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
Credit scoring model used
VantageScore
Dark web scan
Yes, for Identity and Total Protection plans
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million for Identity and Total Protection plans
Terms apply.
Experian IdentityWorks℠
Cost
Basic: Free; Premium: 7-day trial, after $24.99 per month; Family: 7-day trial, after $34.99 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
1-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, with Basic plan only and 3-bureau credit monitoring, alerts and reports: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion®, with Premium and Family plans only
Credit scoring model used
FICO® Score 8, with all plans
Dark web scan
Yes, with all plans
Identity theft insurance
Yes, up to $1 million with all plans
Terms apply.
*Identity Theft Insurance underwritten by insurance company subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. (AIG). The description herein is a summary and intended for informational purposes only and does not include all terms, conditions and exclusions of the policies described. Please refer to the actual policies for terms, conditions, and exclusions of coverage. Coverage may not be available in all jurisdictions.
FICO® Basic, Advanced and Premier
Cost
$19.95 to $39.95 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian for Basic plan or Experian, Equifax and TransUnion for Advanced and Premier plans
Credit scoring model used
FICO
Dark web scan
Yes, for Advanced and Premier plans
Identity insurance
Yes, up to $1 million
Terms apply.
If you're not willing to pay a fee, the other option is to manually review each of your credit reports on a regular basis.
Traditionally, you're entitled to one free credit report from each bureau per year, but thanks to a recent change, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are offering free credit reports to all Americans on a weekly basis through April 2022. All you need to do is request your credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com every week and review them for any discrepancies.
When you're reviewing your credit reports, keep an eye out for these red flags:
- New accounts that you didn't open
- Identity errors (wrong name, phone number or address)
- Incorrect reporting of account status (late payments when you've paid on time, closed accounts reported as open or being listed as the owner of an account when you're just an authorized user)
- Data management errors (reinsertion of incorrect information after it was corrected)
- Balance errors (incorrect current balance or credit limit)
If you find anything out of place, dispute the credit report errors as soon as possible.
To learn more about IdentityForce®, visit their website.
