Free Credit Monitoring With Credit Sesame
Credit Sesame is a way to get a free credit score that can help you rebuild your credit. You can also use it to monitor your credit. Several benefits come with using Credit Sesame and some drawbacks. Because we want you to get a good overview of the service as a whole, we’re going to talk about both.
How Credit Sesame Free Credit Monitoring Works
Once you go to the website, you’ll click to sign up. This will take you to a page where you fill in your email, name, address, and the last four digits of your social security number. The site will send an email to the one you registered with for you to verify your account. Once you verify it, you’ll be able to log in and look at your credit score, and it’s impact.
Credit Sesame doesn’t require you to put credit card information in right away. You can start with a free account and upgrade later. The site will update your credit score once a month. You can log in as much as you’d like during that month without a problem.
Credit Sesame: Sign Up For A Free Credit Account
Credit Sesame Benefits
1. Free Credit Monitoring Using TransUnion
Once you have an account, you can use it to monitor your credit score constantly. This is very helpful if you want to try and rebuild credit. You’ll be able to see exactly what drives your credit score up and down each month through the dashboard. It has an area where you can see what changed to influence your credit score.
2. Credit Sesame Will Alert You
You can set your account up to be as interactive as you want. For example, they allow you to get alerts every time something changes. Even if your score just drops a few points due to an inquiry, they’ll alert you. This is excellent for anyone worried about identity theft or fraud. It lets you catch it much quicker, and you can also fix it using Credit Sesame.
3. Identity Theft Protection
You get identity theft protection up to $50,000 through the site. It covers forgery, theft, embezzlement, fraud, stolen identity event, and data breaches. This feature sets this service apart for many other free credit score checkers out there. You can use the money to help cover legal fees and certain expenses.
4. Handle Your Debt
Being able to see your total debt can really hammer home just how deep you are in. You get a bright chart that tells you exactly how much you pay per month to debts. This could inspire you to pay even more to get out of debt quicker. It tells you what accounts you pay and how much you pay per account.
5. Free Tips
If you’re trying to fix your credit score for the first time, it can be very overwhelming. This is why you can take advantage of free tips and education. These are actionable tips that range from opening a secured card to working with a third-party. You can also get a good understanding of precisely what helps and hurts your score.
6. Credit Sesame App
You can check your free credit score on the go with the Credit Sesame app. It’s a secure and encrypted app for both Android and iOS. Once you log into the Credit Sesame app, you’ll have everything you need to monitor your score. This is helpful if you get an alert when you’re out and about and want to check it straight away. Just make sure you don’t save your login information in case you lose your phone.
7. Help Choosing Credit Cards
Taking steps to build up your credit means doing more than just monitoring your free credit score. You also want to get different types of accounts on your credit report to increase your history. You’ll be able to log in and look through credit cards where your approval odds are good. They also offer loans from third-party lenders to help you build your score.
8. Membership Tiers
The free account with Credit Sesame works just fine for most people. But people looking for more protection can take advantage of their membership tiers. There are three available, and each gives you access to more tools. They include:
- Advanced Credit – The lowest tier offers one daily credit score update. You’ll also get three full credit reports updated every month. It costs $7.95 per month annually and $9.95 monthly.
- Pro Credit – You’ll get everything in the free and Advanced tiers. It also comes with credit monitoring and alerts from all three credit bureaus and access to support. You’ll pay $12.95 per month annually or $15.95 month to month.
- Platinum Protection – The final tier comes with everything you get in the first two tiers. It has live help for lost or stolen wallets, social security monitoring, dark web monitoring, and public record monitoring. You’ll pay $15.95 per month for an annual membership and $19.95 for a month to month plan.
Credit Sesame Drawbacks
1. Can Be Expensive
If you decide you’d like to have a paid membership tier, it can be expensive. Also, it’s even more costly if you don’t buy it on an annual basis. So this can be difficult for people who don’t have the extra income to take advantage of and use.
2. Putting Your Personal Information In
Yes, the website is secure and encrypted. However, Credit Sesame is still a website. You have to put in the last four digits of your social security number and other identifying information when you sign up. Because only the last four digits of your social security are required, the risk is lower. This is a risk, but many people believe that it’s worth it because of the features the site has.
3. Targeted Emails With This Free Service
Once you sign up, Credit Sesame will start sending out targeted emails. The Credit Sesame service is completely free. So these emails and ads are how the service remains free to consumers. They will target credit card offers based on your credit score, which can help you. Credit Sesame will recommend credit card offers, which they know you will have a stronger chance to get approved. If you are rebuilding credit, this can help you avoid rejection letters in the mail and unnecessary hard credit inquiries.
4. You Pay for All Three Reports
Credit Sesame is technically a free credit monitoring service. However, this is from just one credit bureau Trans Union. If you want all three, you have to use a paid membership. While it may not be expensive, it’s still cheaper to buy an annual membership. You’ll pay around $2 more per month for a monthly membership. You should consider a paid membership if you plan to buy a home.
Bottom Line on the Free Credit Score Credit Sesame Monitoring Service
Credit Sesame is a valuable tool for anyone to use and take advantage of. The fraud protection is an excellent perk to have if something were to happen and you needed it. So if you haven’t checked it out already, take a look. Use it to build and monitor your credit score throughout the year. It’ll give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing your information is safe.
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