QUOTE (TomB @ Mar 1 2009, 12:27 PM) I`m interested in signing up for a credit monitoring service. There are a few out there and just wondering if anyone uses them and which ones are recommended. A lot of personal information is requested on line. If the service isn`t legit, it is sure an easy way to get a lot of info on someone !
All comments are welcome and appreciated.
I investigated these a year back and settled on CIBC CreditSmart. It does Equifax only, but it`s free, you get it automatically with their CIBC Visa cards (get a CIBC Visa which doesn`t have annual fee, and you basically have the whole thing for free).
The problem with ALL these services (be it Credit Alert or CIBC CreditSmart) is they`ll only show Hard pulls and few MAJOR changes to credit report (they give you a listing what they`d alert you about). They DO NOT show soft pulls, or anything besides the specific things on their list.
I remember I was very disappointed because I wanted a service that would notify me about ANY changes to my credit report, or that would allow me to access my report directly, so that I could check it myself. There is nothing like that in Canada (in US that`s a standard credit monitoring service).
A lot of credit pulls are soft pulls, and you will not be alerted about those... The whole "Credit monitoring" industry in Canada is a joke. In US you get unlimited access to your credit report, you can check it daily if you want, you would see any soft pulls done, anything... Here they charge you money and provide half-assed service.
