Identity Guard

Bottom line: All 3 credit scores free; most comprehensive & best overall service; 25% discount & free 30-day trial
PrivacyGuard

Bottom line: All 3 credit scores for $1; monthly credit score & report updates plus other benefits; 30-day trial for $1
Trusted ID

Bottom line: All 3 credit scores free; great value, especially for families; free 14-day trial
Equifax Complete Advantage

Bottom line: All 3 scores plus excellent 3-bureau monitoring and ongoing Equifax score updates; no free trial
ProtectMyID.com

Bottom line: Cheapest monthly price to monitor all 3 credit reports, but no scores
LifeLock Credit Score Manager

Bottom line: 3-bureau credit monitoring & one-time 3-bureau credit scores; updates TransUnion score monthly
ID Protect Premium from American Express

Bottom line: 3 bureau monitoring and one-time 3-bureau credit reports available upon enrollment but doesn't include credit scores
CreditCheck Total

Bottom line: Monthly 3-bureau credit score updates; $1 7-day trial; a bit expensive
Equifax Score Watch

Bottom line: Only monitors Equifax report; two Equifax FICO® Score reports annually plus updated score whenever it changes; no free trial
CreditReport.com

Bottom line: 3-bureau monitoring; bi-monthly Experian score updates; free 7-day trial
True Credit 3-Bureau

Bottom line: Only monitors TransUnion credit report; unlimited TransUnion scores; free 7-day trial
FreeCreditScore.com

Bottom line: Only monitors Experian report; two updates/mo to your Experian Score; free 7-day trial

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AnnualCreditReport.com commercial parodies poke fun at FreeCreditReport.com

April 6th, 2009 - Posted by Joe

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just published two new commercial length web videos to publicize AnnualCreditReport.com on the web. The videos are a non-so-subtle jab at the popular FreeCreditReport.com commercials from Experian that feature a band whose lead singer frequently laments the downside of having poor credit.

While it is humorous to see the FTC lampoon Experian's commercials, it is important to note that the services provided by AnnualCreditReport.com and FreeCreditReport.com are very different. For example:

  • AnnualCreditReport.com allows consumers to order one free credit report from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion each year.
  • The credit reports ordered from AnnualCreditReport.com do not include credit scores.
  • AnnualCreditReport.com does not provide any type of monitoring for your credit. This means that you could go a whole year without knowing about changes to your credit report if you solely rely on your free AnnualCreditReport.com credit reports.

On the other hand, FreeCreditReport.com offers:

  • A free Experian credit report and Experian credit score upon sign up for a free seven day trial of three bureau credit monitoring. You do need to use a credit card to sign up for your free trial of FreeCreditReport.com but, whether you decide to stick around or not, your free credit report and score are yours to keep.
  • Three bureau credit monitoring of your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit files with 24×7 email alerts if any changes are detected. This ensures that you know about any changes to your report at the earliest possible moment.

AnnualCreditReport.com is a valuable service, but we don't believe that consumers should solely rely on one credit report per bureau per year to gauge their credit health. A three bureau credit report monitoring service is vital to staying informed on the state of your credit.

You can learn more about FreeCreditReport.com and other credit report monitoring services by reading our reviews and comparison of credit report monitoring services.

You can see both of the FTC's new AnnualCreditReport.com commercials below:

One Response to “AnnualCreditReport.com commercial parodies poke fun at FreeCreditReport.com”

  1. Brad Says:

    Free credit report .com, don't use. The score they give you is not right. It is a stupid number they pick out of thin air. What a waste of money. Never order a credit score.

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