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Saturday, November 9th
Privacy Guard is a middle-of-the-road option for credit monitoring. It's part of Trilegiant Corporation, a company designated as a "marketing consultant” by the Better Business Bureau. You won't find a ton of information about Privacy Guard itself, but the list of businesses under the Trilegiant banner is... interesting. It includes sites like Travelers Advantage and Health Saver, but also completely unrelated businesses like "Everyday Values” and "Just for Me”. In other words, you'll want to keep in mind that Privacy Guard isn't exactly an industry expert in credit monitoring.
More affordable than some rival services
Still, that doesn't mean you should totally avoid this service either. They offer similar credit monitoring as many other providers on our list, but at prices that are slightly more affordable and with some benefits you might not even get with rival services. You've got two options to choose from, both of which come with a 14-day trial for just $1:
Virtually no client feedback
While we'd love to go into great detail about Privacy Guard's reputation, there's next to no subscriber feedback to be had. Even the Better Business Bureau doesn't have enough information to list the parent company as anything beyond "Not Rated”. Looking beyond the BBB to third-party sites, we couldn't find customer comments after 2019, and even then the overall picture was "just average”. Maybe there just aren't that many people who want to sign up for credit monitoring that doesn't come with something for free - either a free credit score or report, or at least a free trial instead of charging $1.
Still on top of current events in credit monitoring
Then again, in the Privacy Guard newsroom, there were articles about various data breaches and credit monitoring-related topics like protecting one's identity on vacation or keeping an eye on credit when preparing to apply for a mortgage - and those were all up-to-date and relevant, so it's not like no one is at the helm here either.
Room to grow but no need to avoid this service
We give Privacy Guard a tentative recommendation, with the caveat that it's not the most expert resource we've ever seen for credit monitoring. But, if you're looking for reasonably-priced, monthly credit score updates from all three bureaus, this is one of the few options on our list that offers that. And, when you add in the identity monitoring features, Privacy Guard starts to sound like a decent value. We'd need to see a lot more subscriber reviews to give the company a more enthusiastic thumbs up, but we don't see anything terribly wrong with this service either.
In today's interconnected digital world, maintaining a strong credit profile is essential. That's where credit monitoring services come into play - valuable tools to safeguard your financial well-being and keep you informed about your credit health. These services provide continuous oversight of your credit report and alert you to any significant changes.
Credit monitoring lets you to detect and respond swiftly to potential threats like identity theft, fraud, or errors on your credit reports. They do this by sending you alerts via email or text whenever there are significant changes in your credit report. They offer ongoing monitoring of your credit reports from major credit bureaus, allowing you to stay vigilant without manual effort. Moreover, many credit monitoring services provide educational resources and tips for improving your credit scores and managing debt.
In the unfortunate event of identity theft, reputable credit monitoring services often offer assistance in resolving issues and restoring your credit, providing you with valuable support and guidance during a challenging time. It's important to note that credit monitoring primarily focuses on credit-related activities and may not detect all forms of identity theft or fraud, such as medical or criminal identity theft.
Additionally, you may receive alerts for legitimate actions, which could lead to unnecessary concern or alert fatigue. And, it's crucial to understand that credit monitoring services can't prevent or stop fraudulent activities; they can only provide information and alerts, underscoring the importance of your own proactive vigilance in protecting your financial well-being.
Now that you understand what credit monitoring can (and can't) do for you, how do you choose which option is right for you? There are a lot of similarities among providers of this service, and it can get frustrating trying to sort out the minute differences that could impact your decision.
Consider these factors that might illuminate those differences and make it clearer which one you should choose:
Credit monitoring services offer you valuable tools to protect your financial well-being and maintain a healthy credit profile, and Top Consumer Reviews has done the legwork to make it easy to compare today's most popular providers. We're confident that this information will empower you to take control of your financial life and stay on top of your credit profile.
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