Does Identity Guard offer monitoring of credit card transactions and not just the credit card number? Do they also cover bank transaction monitoring?

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July 22nd, 2010 - Posted by Tasha

The following is an actual user-submitted question:

Q:  Does Identity Guard offer monitoring of credit card transactions and not just the credit card number?  Do they also cover bank transaction monitoring?

A: Identity Guard does not monitor individual credit card or bank account transactions.  Instead they monitor the Internet black market and other public domains for the illegitimate use of your credit card or bank account numbers.  We have not heard of any type of identity theft protection company that will provide the level of service you're asking about, primarily because granting an entity that level of access to your personal finances is not always great idea.

This is why it's an excellent idea for to carefully check every credit card and bank statement you receive for suspicious transactions.  If you catch issues as soon as they happen, they are much easier to resolve.  These days,  most major banks allow you to set free transaction alerts on your account.  Usually you can set the alert based on transaction type or balance changes.

If you're worried about having fraudulent credit card transactions show up on your statement, you should know that by law you aren't responsible for this type of fraud. The caveat is that you need to report the fraud within 60 days of receiving the statement. Technically you could owe $50, but usually credit card issuers waive this fee.  If only the credit card account number is stolen, and not the physical card itself, you are liable for nothing.

Overall, we think our top-rated Identity Guard is still a very smart pick for  identity theft protection.  The combination of 3 bureau credit report monitoring, credit scores, advanced identity theft protection and desktop software is a provides the most complete offering we've seen and we highly recommend it.