Experian is a credit reporting agency that provides you with information regarding your credit rating. It’s one of the three agencies in the country, along with TransUnion and Equifax. It employs 17,000 people worldwide and is an authority in credit monitoring and reporting.
If you’ve ever gone on websites such as CreditScore.com, FreeCreditReport.com or CreditReport.com, they are all owned and run by Experian.
What is Experian?
Experian’s bread and butter is the business of providing customers with credit reports. Customers receive unlimited access to their Experian credit report, along with a monthly statement containing their FICO score.
Customers also get email alerts about significant changes to their credit score and access to Experian’s dedicated fraud support team.
Experian Products & Services
Experian offers three main products that clients can choose from are CreditWorks, IdentityWorks, and 3-Bureau Credit Report.
CreditWorks
A subscription-based service. It offers users unlimited access to their credit report and FICO score, notifications of substantial changes to your credit file, and identity theft insurance. Customers also get access to a dedicated fraud support team.
IdentityWorks
This expands upon CreditWorks by offering users unlimited access to their Experian credit report, as well as daily reports on their TransUnion and Equifax reports. They also get alerts regarding changes to their credit file, identity theft protection, and access to the fraud support team.
The product also continuously scans the internet for personal information and monitors it for accuracy to prevent identity theft.
The 3-Bureau Credit Report
A once-off service that provides customers with a snapshot of their credit score from Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. This feedback includes both proprietary credit ratings and the FICO score so that users can get a solid understanding of their credit rating at the time of the report.
Benefits of Experian
What Sets Experian Apart?
Experian’s Automated Monitoring
Granting customers access to their credit score at all times, Experian also keeps an eye on 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 who are at 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 credit monitoring agencies, they tend to give you a score based on their inhouse proprietary rating scale. Experian is the only credit monitoring service that will also provide you with your FICO score.
The FICO score is a standardized score used by most credit providers to determine your suitability for credit, as well as rates and terms for any loans or credit cards. The higher your score on the scale of 300 to 850, the more likely you are to get better terms and rates.
Experian also provides a comprehensive breakdown of your credit score in their reports, showing what factors influence your score. This tool is an excellent resource if you’re looking to improve your score since it highlights the areas on which you need to focus your efforts.
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. It’s are 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, like taking out a car or home loan, filing for bankruptcy, and paying off your credit card debt.
Experian also offers a credit score simulator that customers can test. This simulation allows you to see the impact of any financial decisions you make on your credit score, which will help you in your decision-making process. The simulator takes into account plenty of variables and uses the same calculations as FICO. It’s relatively accurate in its predictions, though the results should never be taken as a hundred percent reliable.
Experian’s Mobile App
If you’re one of those people who prefer running your life from your smartphone, the Experian app is a great addition to their host of services. A lot of effort has gone into ensuring the app is easy to use on both Android and Apple devices. It’s stable and attractive and an interesting alternative to the desktop site.
The mobile app offers several perks, like video tutorials on getting the most out of the resource. New users are sure to appreciate these kinds of features. These tutorials range from pretty basic to covering some very important topics, such as the process for disputing an inaccuracy on your credit report and how to track your credit score over time.
How Does Experian’s Pricing Work?
Both CreditWorks and IdentityWorks are subscription-based products, meaning that you’ll get billed on a monthly basis until you cancel your subscription. CreditWorks costs $21.95/month, while IdentityWorks costs $9.95/month.
It’s worth noting that if you’ve signed up for the 7-day free trial, you need to cancel it before the period expires manually. Otherwise, you’ll be charged $21.75 until you cancel your service. Some customers also reported that the trial stopped before seven days were up, and they were billed prematurely. Try to access your report as soon as possible, and cancel your service if you don’t want to continue.
The 3-Bureau Credit Report is a once-off payment of $39.95. Unlike the other two products, this report is a once-off payment, and you don’t get any additional services from Experian.
Experian Customer Ratings
In general, most customers are very happy about the service they get from Experian. However, some customers report difficulty with canceling their subscription or having their 7-day free trial expire before the week is up.
Many customers are also unhappy about the fact that there are hidden fees for services that should come standard with the CreditWorks package. If you want to get comprehensive credit reports from all three agencies, you need to pay an extra fee per report, which can seriously add up over time.
Another concern is the spate of data breaches that occurred in 2017. Equifax was the worst hit, with the personal information of over 140 million people compromised. Experian has also been subject to data breaches, and lawsuits around unsecured customer information.
Since these breaches occurred in 2017, the chances are that security has been improved in the past two years, though 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 the perfect solution to do so.
