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Are 3 in 1 Online Free Credit History Offers for Real?

Monitoring your credit history is important, according to the financial experts. Doing so will help you catch errors earlier and enable you to take the necessary steps to correct these mistakes. Because of this, many financial institutions are offering promotions where consumers can avail of their credit information online for added convenience. These 3 in 1 online free credit history programs sound like they’re a good deal, but are they really free?

Credit reports are issued by the three largest credit reporting agencies in the United States: TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. The companies that offer to give you a 3 in 1 online free credit history combines the reports from these three agencies into one concise and easy-to-read and understand report to make the credit monitoring process easier for you. But if you take a closer look at these so-called “free” reports, you will find that there are some strings attached to the offer.

Take, for instance, the Citi arm of financial giant Citibank. The company is offering a program called the Citi Credit Monitoring Service, under which those who sign up for a free 30-day trial are also eligible to receive a 3-in-1 credit report with three scores and monitoring from the three bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) at no added cost. The credit report in this program includes monitoring and analysis information, as well as information about any creditors to whom you owe money. However, if you don’t cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 monthly thereafter.

There are other companies that offer for-pay 3-in-1 credit monitoring services. In fact, Equifax offers a 3-in-1 credit report for $29.95 while TransUnion’s 3-in-1 product, called TrueCredit, can be purchased for $34.95. To be fair, these reports can contribute significantly to prevent a person from being a victim of identity theft or fraud. A subscriber is notified at once of any activity in his or her profile. Also, they are alerted of any entity who has requested a copy of the credit report. Having the information from the three credit bureaus compiled into one report would likewise be helpful because they usually do not have exactly the same information about your credit history, so it would be easier to reconcile any discrepancies.

Before you decide to take advantage of any 3 in 1 online free credit history offers, make sure you fully understand the specifics involved, and read the fine print if necessary. The free credit report is desirable, but you need to decide whether you want to buy the service that comes along with it.