Credit Reporting Websites - Choosing a Reliable Provider
If you are currently looking for a website to provide you with credit reporting or monitoring services, our advice would be that you do so with great care and caution. Whilst the majority of websites out there offering credit score services are highly reliable - there are always the odd few which do nothing to add to the reputation of the industry on the whole.
How Identity Theft Can Affect Your Credit Score
We've all heard of the impending threat of identity theft, especially in today's modern electronic world. Whenever we hear the term, we automatically think of people sitting in a dark room, in a far away country - counting the pennies from people who they have successfully scammed.
Credit Scorecards - What Are They and Who Uses Them?
Don't mistake a credit score for a credit scorecard - they are not the same thing. In this article, we will take a look at the difference between these two things - both of which are reports - but both of which serve a different purpose.
Credit Reporting Websites - Choosing a Reliable Provider
If you are currently looking for a website to provide you with credit reporting or monitoring services, our advice would be that you do so with great care and caution. Whilst the majority of websites out there offering credit score services are highly reliable - there are always the odd few which do nothing to add to the reputation of the industry on the whole.
To illustrate this point, we need to look at exactly what a credit reporting website does, and what services you should be able to expect from them - to see how we can measure whether they are able to deliver on these promises or not.
What Services Should Credit Score Websites Offer?
In general, credit reporting websites should offer one of the following services:
- Credit report monitoring.
- Credit score dispute resolution.
- Credit score interpretation and breakdown.
- A free copy of your credit report.
Aside from the above services, most credit reporting websites also offer services where you are able to subscribe to a regular information report about your credit and financial activities - so that you know exactly what entries are being made to your report - the moment they are added.
Reliable or Not? That is the Question.
It's definitely safe to say that 99% of the credit score websites out there on the internet will offer you a first class service - but what about the other 1% of sites?
Unfortunately, as with every industry - this 1% of participants does not adhere to the strict industry reporting standards. With such a service, you will find that your reports are delayed, and the monitoring service they employ might be less than satisfactory.
For example, in one case where a client signed up to such a service - they found the following issues:
- Information was not delivered in a timely manner.
- Reported information missed vital details.
- Dispute service was clearly sub-par.
These are the last issues you want to encounter when you are paying for a credit score website to do the exact opposite. So - our advice: choose a reliable, reputable, and well reviewed credit scoring site to be sure of the best chance of success with your credit future. This is an area where you really don't want to mess it up!