The Real Cost of a Free Credit Check

The September 19 issue of Business Week talked about the fact that those "free" credit checks also come with a lot of "free" ads. Their introduction to the issue:

Thanks to a new federal law, millions of consumers are getting a free peek at their credit on www.annualcreditreport.com, a Web site set up by the major credit bureaus. But they're also discovering that "free" means dodging pitches for plenty of fee-based services.

Why the pitches? The credit reporting agencies want to make money:

The credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion -- were reluctant to simply give away products, explains Norma Garcia, a senior attorney at Consumers Union. The result: The site is easy to navigate, yielding a gratis list of current or delinquent loans, credit-card payments, and so on. But the bureaus also are allowed to offer other services. Choose a free report from Equifax, and up pops a chance to pay $6.95 for your credit score. Click "no thanks," and you get two more paid offers. Experian's sell is a bit softer: After getting your report, up come offers for such services as Triple Alert, which lets you know, for $4.95 a month, if someone is probing your credit.

Maybe this is not so bad. It does offer you some new services that you may need to protect yourself against identity theft. But are they worth it? Here's Business Week's take on the situation:

The bottom line? Howard Dvorkin, founder of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says most folks don't need the extras and should stick with the no-charge credit report.

Comments

[Dick Myers]

The free credit check is a bit easier over the phone. I'm a web user by choice, but I saw my wife get her credit check over the phone faster and with less hastle than I did on the web.

[Dick Myers]

The free credit check is a bit easier over the phone. I'm a web user by choice, but I saw my wife get her credit check over the phone faster and with less hastle than I did on the web.