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.
Take action to protect your identity
Offers in this section are from affiliate partners and selected based on a combination of engagement, product relevance, compensation, and consistent availability.
Cost
Individual plan: $10/month billed annually or $13/month billed monthly; Couple plan: $18/month billed annually or $24/month billed monthly; Family plan: $29/month billed annually or $39/month billed monthly
Identity theft insurance
$1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
Cost
$6.67 to $29.99 per month
Identity theft insurance
Up to $1 million in insurance for eligible losses from identity theft
On Identity Guard's secure site
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
Identity theft insurance
Yes, at least $1 million with all plans
On IdentityForce®'s secure site.
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®
On IdentityForce®'s secure site.
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 millionfor Identity and Total Protection plans
Terms apply.
Experian IdentityWorks℠
On Experian's secure site
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
On myFICO's secure site
Cost
$29.95 to $39.95 per month
Credit bureaus monitored
Experian for Basic plan or Experian, Equifax and TransUnion forAdvanced and Premier plans
Credit scoring model used
FICO
Dark web scan
Yes, forAdvanced 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 theirwebsite.
Don't miss:
- What is credit monitoring and does it protect you from fraud?
- A good credit score can save you thousands of dollars—here's how to understand and check yours for free
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
