3 in 1 monitoring

[Anonymous]

I would like to get myself and my husband covered with a credit monitoring program. Has anyone had any experience with this one?  It is only $14.95 per month to monitor all three bureaus and unlimited credit reports.

https://www.truecredit.com/products/optimizedOrder.jsp?loc=1519&package=TriBureauCMU&cb=TransUnion

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I have TC and like it. I tried CS (thru AMEX) and cancelled it. With TC there is a link on each OC which shows when each reported.I think that they are the only ones that have it OR I should say that I haven't heard of any others having it.

[haulingthescoreup]

I have TrueCredit, and I'm very happy with it. They show when the lenders updated as mm/dd/yyyy for EX and TU, but not for EQ. (EQ doesn't even show it themselves on their own reports.) So it's really handy for learning who updates when.

My one caution: do NOT pay attention to their scores, which are FAKO's. Some have found that they sort of track their FICO's, but many have not. Additionally, if your real scores are lowish (mid-600's and below), the TC FAKO's tend to run higher, and if your scores are upper 600's and above, the TC FAKO's are lower. Also, ignore the advice they give along with the scores. Some of their advice, if followed, can really hurt your real scores.

[Dawn]

Does the TC version show Credit Limit and High Balance fields?  Revolving vs Open?

[haulingthescoreup]

Sorry, I had to go re-learn how to do this.

One thing about TrueCredit and other monitoring services, including myFICO, always click the printable report option. You lose the pretty green squares, but you can see everything at once:

Dawn, I don't have any of those pesky no-limit cards, so I can't tell you how they report. Anyway, TC does show the highest-ever balance (the drunken blue circles) and the actual date of updating, except for on EQ, which seems to be the red-headed stepchild of TrueCredit.

edit to add: that highest balance was NOT reported on a statement, and it didn't post as that month's current balance on my reports. As I said on a different thread, CCC's do report the highest balance that you've ever had, at any point in the billing cycle, whether you paid if off before it posted or not.

On the condensed (nonprintable) view, all the OK's are green squares, and 30 days are yellow, 60 days are orange, and 90 days are red, which is why I call my J.Crew card my Christmas tree account. Far too many colors sprinkled amongst the green.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 02-21-2008 05:21 PM

[Anonymous]

yup   it shows everything (almost everything) that your CR does.

[Dawn]

Thank you for posting the screen shot.  I guess I have to find more examples of other reports.  This one does not include a field that shows if the card is being reported as "Open" or "Revolving."

[Anonymous]

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@Dawn wrote:

Thank you for posting the screen shot.  I guess I have to find more examples of other reports.  This one does not include a field that shows if the card is being reported as "Open" or "Revolving."

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What impact does open and revolving have on your credit report or with the reporting?

[haulingthescoreup]

Dawn, I think I've read that the Open or Revolving bit reports in the Remarks field.

We need to find someone with this type of card who uses TrueCredit.

[Dawn]

tidbit1 wrote:

What impact does open and revolving have on your credit report or with the reporting?

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I'm so sorry I hijacked your thread ... I was needing information about 3-in-1 reports as well and thought this would be a good opportunity to get some additional information.

There are "Open" vs "Revolving" issues with some of the "no preset spending limit" cards.  They are inconsistently reported, and depending upon the consumer's needs and desires, one or the other might be the better choice for them.  In my case, I want to know which way my cards are being reported so I know what to expect as far as how FICO is factoring revolving utilization into my score.

If you aren't concerned about this issue, the TrueCredit product is widely praised around here.  It just isn't going to provide all of the information I want to see.

If you have such a card and want more information, I will be happy to point you to additional discussions related to this and answer any questions I am able to.