Monitoring Your Credit Report

In terms of your financial standing with potential lenders, mortgage firms, and insurance companies, as well as with future landlords and employers, there's nothing more important than the information in your credit report.

How credit bureaus use your credit report information

Your credit report data is used by the nation's three credit bureaus - TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian - to calculate your credit score; that all-important number lenders use to evaluate your creditworthiness. Having a high credit score (the higher the score the better your credit rating), translates to lower interest rates and monthly payments on your credit cards, bank loans, mortgage, insurance, and other accounts.

Why you should monitor your credit report data

Every consumer has three credit reports, one from each credit bureau, so for you to obtain a complete record of our financial standing you'll need to see the information on all three reports. To ensure that you have the highest credit score possible, you need to monitor your credit report on a regular basis for two reasons:

• To check for any inaccurate information that has been recorded
• To check for the possibility of fraudulent activity or identity theft

Disputing incorrect information on your credit report

If you find incorrect information in any of your credit reports, you should go online to report it to the appropriate credit reporting agency. Each bureau provides consumers with the ability to dispute any information on their reports. They will then investigate the dispute and remove the information if they find your dispute is valid.

Monitoring your credit report to protect yourself against identity theft

With identity theft crimes on the rise in the U.S., it's equally important to monitor your credit report for any suspicious activity. Thanks to products offered by all three credit bureaus, this is easy to do. Sign up for a credit monitoring service - there will be a monthly fee - to have regular access to your credit report and receive alerts if any significant activity is added to your data. Most of these services include identity theft insurance protection to give you greater peace of mind when it comes to the security of your financial identity.