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If you have not yet frozen your credit reports, this could be your moment.
Under the Economic Growth Act, regulatory lightening and consumer protection, freeze your credit to the three major credit bureaus – Equifax
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Experian
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and TransUnion
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– will be free from 21 September. Previously, states set prices for freezes, which typically cost about $ 10.
It has been a year since Equifax publicly announced that, through its office, hackers had access to the personal information of more than 145 million people.
Since then, very few people have taken into account the advice of security experts and frozen their credit reports, a precautionary measure that should prevent anyone from fraudulently opening a new credit account in his name.
Only 12% of those surveyed said they had "blocked" a credit account and only 8% said they had "frozen" a credit account, according to a new survey of 1,000 people by the credit comparison site. CompareCards.com.
But that could begin to change, said John Danaher, president of Consumer Interactive at TransUnion. During previous violations- Target
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, Anthem
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– Customers have checked their credit report or enrolled in credit monitoring, said Danaher.
Locking provides frost-like protections, but when credit bureaus allow consumers to "lock" their accounts, they generally allow them to "unlock" them by using an online platform or application.
If you have not yet frozen your account, you should still do it, say the experts. It is possible that the fraudsters who originally had the Equifax data resold them to other criminals. This means that there is a risk that your personal information will fall into the wrong hands at any time, so that consumers must monitor their credit closely and take all possible preventive measures.
Consumers can lock and unlock their credit via mobile devices
While freezing and blocking credits will now be free, experts expect consumers to start experiencing new problems.
"The major disadvantage is that you have frozen your credit profile and have forgotten it," Danaher said. "You are going to buy a cell phone or get a credit card, and they say," Oh, we could not get credit for you. "
As a result, the three credit reporting agencies have created separate mobile applications (or services within existing applications) to allow consumers to lock or unlock their credit on the go.
Prior to the September 21 deadline for free credit freeze, TransUnion has released a new app called myTransUnion, which allows consumers to freeze and unblock their credit reports on their mobile devices. The app also allows consumers to schedule a freeze (or unblock) in advance if they are planning to apply for a new line of credit in the future, for example a car loan or a car loan. a mortgage.
TransUnion did not completely eliminate the processes in place when consumers had to pay to freeze and unlock their credit. In the past, consumers could choose to set a PIN that they would use to lift a freeze online, by mail or by phone. TransUnion has maintained this process in place if the consumer has difficulty accessing the application for any reason.
Equifax launched its own credit blocking application in January called Lock & Alert. The service was available for free at that time. Just like the TransUnion app, it allows consumers to lock or unlock their credit reports at any time. It also informs consumers if their Equifax credit report is locked or unlocked.
Experian, meanwhile, has integrated a credit freeze function, CreditLock, into its main application instead of creating a new one. "The Experian CreditLock has been specifically developed to integrate with its credit education and identity protection products and also warns the user if a credit check is attempted while the credit file is locked. Said a spokesman for the company.
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