Experian Credit Monitoring Review
Experian is on of the three major credit bureaus that provide consumers with information regarding their credit rating. It also offers credit monitoring so you can keep a close eye on your credit report. It employs over 20,000 people worldwide and is an authority in credit monitoring and reporting.
- What is Experian?
- Experian’s products and services
- Benefits of Experian credit monitoring
- How Experian’s pricing works
- Experian customer ratings
What is Experian?
Experian is dedicated to providing consumers with credit reports and any changes therein. Customers receive unlimited access to their Experian credit report, along with a monthly statement containing their FICO score. They also get email alerts about significant changes to their credit score and access to Experian's dedicated fraud support team.
Experian’s products and services
Experian offers three key products that clients can choose from: CreditWorks, IdentityWorks or the three-bureau credit report.
CreditWorks
This is a subscription-based service that offers users unlimited access to their credit report and FICO score, notifications of substantial changes to their credit file and identity theft insurance. Customers can also access a dedicated fraud support team.
IdentityWorks
This expands upon CreditWorks and offers users unlimited access to their Experian credit report and daily TransUnion and Equifax reports. IdentityWorks offers customers alerts regarding changes to their credit file, identity theft protection and access to the fraud support team. This product continuously scans the Internet for personal information and monitors it for accuracy to prevent identity theft.
The three-bureau credit report
This one-off service gives customers a snapshot of their credit score from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. The feedback includes both proprietary credit ratings and a FICO score and gives users a solid understanding of their credit rating at the time of the report.
Benefits of Experian credit monitoring
Experian offers several benefits that set it apart from other agencies.
Experian delivers automated monitoring
Experian grants you access to your credit score at all times and monitors your credit score on an ongoing basis. If the program notices any significant changes, such as a change of address or the addition of a new account, it will notify you via email or the mobile app. This report-back allows users at a high risk of identity theft to catch these changes and stop the theft from becoming a severe problem by halting it in its tracks.
Experian provides a FICO score
If you request a credit report from a credit monitoring agency, many will give you a score based on an in-house proprietary rating scale. Experian is the only credit monitoring service that will also provide you with your FICO score. This is a standardized score most credit providers use to determine your suitability for credit and the rates and terms for any loans or credit cards. The higher your score on the scale 300-850, the more likely you will get better terms and rates.
Experian also provides a comprehensive breakdown of your credit score in its reports and shows which factors influence your score. This is an excellent resource if you're looking to improve your score, as it highlights the areas you need to focus your efforts on.
Experian offers an education center
Many people use credit without fully understanding it. Experian provides its customers with a comprehensive and helpful education center, which contains relevant and useful information. The articles are up to date and accurate, and they’re a superb resource for both new credit users and experienced credit veterans alike. If you're wondering what affects your credit score and how you can improve your credit health, this resource is an excellent place to start.
You should understand how planning a significant financial change will affect your credit score. This can include tasks such as taking out a car or home loan, filing for bankruptcy or paying off your credit card debt.
Experian offers you a credit score simulator that allows you to see the impact of your financial decisions on your credit score. This will help you in your decision-making process. The simulator takes many variables into account and uses the same calculations as FICO. It's quite accurate in its predictions, but you shouldn’t assume the results are 100% reliable.
Experian has a mobile app
If you prefer running your life from your smartphone, the Experian app is a great addition to its host of services. Experian has expended a lot of effort on ensuring the app is easy to use on both Android and Apple devices. It's stable, attractive and an interesting alternative to the desktop site.
The mobile app offers several perks, including video tutorials on how to get the most out of the resource. New users will appreciate these. The tutorials cover a range of basic and very important topics, such as how to dispute an inaccuracy on your credit report and how to track your credit score over time.
How Experian's pricing works
Both CreditWorks and IdentityWorks are subscription-based products, meaning Experian will bill you every month until you cancel your subscription. The listed prices are current as of September 20, 2022.
Experian CreditWorks pricing
CreditWorks has a basic package that’s free and a premium package that’s free for seven days and then just $24.99 per month. The CreditWorks Basic only allows you to monitor the Experian report and monthly scores, while the premium package includes monitoring reports with the three major credit bureaus, daily Experian credit reports, scores and several identity protection solutions.
Experian IdentityWorks pricing
IdentityWorks has a plus and premium package, which both offer a free 30-day trial. After 30 days, IdentityWorks Plus costs $9.99 per month, and IdentityWorks Premium costs $19.99 per month. These prices include protection for one adult, and the prices go up for other tiers: a package for one adult and up to 10 children is $14.99 for IdentityWorks Plus and $24.99 for IdentityWorks Premium, and for two adults and up to 10 children, the costs are $19.99 for the plus package and $29.99 for the premium. The main differences between the plus and premium packages are the level of theft insurance coverage and the types of monitoring and alerts.
It's worth noting that if you sign up for the 30-day free trial, you need to cancel it manually before the period expires. Otherwise, Experian will charge the monthly subscription fee until you cancel your service. Some customers reported that their trial stopped before the end of the 30-day trial period, and Experian billed them prematurely. Try to access your report as soon as possible and cancel your service if you don't want to continue.
Experian three-bureau credit report pricing
The three-bureau credit report costs $39.99. Unlike the other two products, this is a one-off payment, and you don't get any additional services from Experian.
Experian customer ratings
In general, most customers are very happy with the service Experian provides. However, some report difficulty with canceling their subscription or having their free trial expire before the end of the seven-day period. Many customers are also unhappy about the hidden fees for services that should come standard with the CreditWorks package. If you want comprehensive credit reports from all three agencies, you must pay an extra fee per report, which can seriously add up over time.
Customers are also concerned about a spate of data breaches in 2017. Equifax was the worst hit, with the personal information of over 140 million people compromised. Experian also faced data breaches and lawsuits concerning unsecured customer information. Since the breaches in 2017, security has likely improved, but reports of credit report inaccuracies remain troubling.
Why choose Experian?
Knowing your credit score is a vital part of understanding your financial health. If you're looking for a service that provides you with regular access to your credit score, Experian is a solid choice. It provides daily refreshes, regular credit reports and automated monitoring for a reasonable monthly price.
The main drawback of the service is that it doesn't provide you with a comprehensive picture of your credit score with the other two agencies. However, if you're looking for a tool to help you manage or rebuild your credit score, Experian offers a good solution to do so.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct a reference to Experian's affiliated websites. The story originally stated Experian as the owner of several credit reporting and monitoring sites. This article has also been updated to reflect Experian’s number of employees and their current pricing.
Disclaimer: This story was originally published on September 30, 2019, on BetterCreditBlog.org. To find the most relevant information concerning Experian, please visit their website: https://www.experian.com/