The 8 Best Canadian Credit Monitoring Companies
Who Provides the Best Credit Monitoring Service for Canadians?
You might remember the days when you had to pay $20 every time you wanted to access your credit score. Not anymore! These days, most banks give you free access to your score just for having an account. There are also several free services that provide your credit score on a weekly or monthly basis.
But, what if you want to keep a closer eye on your finances? Or you want alerts if any suspicious activity is detected on one of your accounts? You're smart to think that way: according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC), approximately 27,000 Canadians experience identity theft every year, but only 29% of people they surveyed actually check their credit reports regularly as a means of protecting their personal information.
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2021 Canadian Credit Monitoring Company Reviews
Borrowell
Used by over a million Canadians to get free credit reports and solid financial advice, Borrowell is our top-ranked no-cost credit monitoring provider. While you may not get some features offered by paid membership platforms, Borrowell delivers a great set of tools to help you understand your credit score, maintain or improve it as desired, and become well-educated about your finances.
Mogo
Free credit scores and daily monitoring? You can have both with Mogo. This is the only free credit monitoring service in Canada that updates your monthly Equifax score and checks daily for any hard inquiries on your credit report. The app teaches you how to improve your financial health, and even rewards you for building good money habits. This is a fantastic way to get fairly robust credit monitoring without paying a dime.
ID Shield
ID Shield offers Canada's most comprehensive credit monitoring services for both individuals and families. You'll get lightning-fast alerts when suspicious activity is detected, not just with your financial accounts but also with your Personally Identifiable Information online (including the dark web). An "A+" from the BBB and plenty of praise from loyal customers are strong indicators that you're in good hands when choosing ID Shield to protect your credit. This company earns our highest recommendation among paid credit monitoring services in Canada.
Equifax
Equifax is one of two main credit bureaus in Canada, and as such they provide paid credit monitoring services. Available in packages with identity theft protection and restoration features, as well as options for individuals and couples, this service is a little on the expensive side but might be worth it to get the most comprehensive coverage.
Credit Karma
Credit Karma was one of the earliest "free credit scores" companies in the industry, and the service has more than 60 million users in North America. When you create your free account, you'll get weekly updates to your TransUnion credit score and report, as well as financial education and product offers. But, Credit Karma isn't available in all provinces, and this site's offerings fall short when compared with rival no-fee credit monitoring services designed specifically for Canadians.
Identity Guard
Identity Guard is a reliable company that offers comprehensive credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. They have three levels of coverage, so that you only pay for the features you really want. The company gets high marks from customers and from the BBB. The downside? The site is focused almost entirely on American consumers, and you may have trouble accessing Identity Guard's services for Canadians.
TransUnion Canada
Despite being commonly used to report Canadians' credit scores, TransUnion comes up short when it comes to credit monitoring. They don't offer many details about the paid service prior to signing up, there aren't any package levels to choose from (like individual vs. couple/family), and customers report having a very hard time cancelling the membership. Top it off with an "F" rating from the BBB, and it's easy to see why TransUnion ends up with a low ranking among credit monitoring services.
Credit Verify
Credit Verify promises much but delivers little. After a required $1 trial for your first week of service, you'll be charged $24.95/month for their credit monitoring - but good luck trying to reach anyone in their customer service department if you decide to cancel. A "D" rating from the Better Business Bureau is further proof that this company isn't trustworthy, and that you should look to a higher-ranked provider for your credit monitoring needs in Canada.
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That's where credit monitoring services come in. You have several options to choose from, ranging from those free services mentioned earlier to monthly subscriptions that go much more in-depth to monitor your accounts, alert you if anything unusual comes up, and may even help you recover if you become a victim of identity theft.
Which Canadian credit monitoring provider is right for you? That depends on what you're looking for, and here are several criteria to keep in mind that can help you decide:
- Credit score reporting vs. account monitoring. Are you interested in regular updates of your credit score, tools to help you manage your finances, and education about building and maintaining a healthy credit profile? You can get all of that for free with several reputable services. On the other hand, if you want your accounts actively monitored, so that you're alerted in the event of potential fraud, you'll probably need to consider a paid subscription plan.
- Experian vs. TransUnion. Canada has two main credit bureaus, and most credit monitoring services only report your score with one or the other. Because each bureau uses different algorithms and metrics for making their calculations, your score can be significantly different depending on which one you use. If you sign up for a membership plan with a service that only reports your credit history at one bureau, consider also getting a free account with a second credit monitoring provider that pulls your score from the other bureau.
- Reputation. Not all credit monitoring services are created equal. What do other Canadians have to say about the platform? If it's a subscription-based program, do most clients feel it's worth the monthly cost? Has the company been rated favorably by the Better Business Bureau? Does it provide credit and finance information and advice specific to Canadians, or is it just a repackaged service that was originally geared towards consumers in the US?
TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed and ranked the best credit monitoring services for Canadians. We hope this information helps you understand your credit score, keep track of your credit usage, and continue to establish healthy credit habits well into the future.
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