Credit Sesame has free credit reports and monitoring, financial tips from experts and insurance for identity theft expenses. They also offer free identity alert protection. The site does not ask for a credit card for their basic plan, and their recommendations are entirely unbiased by sponsors. Credit Sesame also states you can save money by showing you better credit offers or interest rates on your loans. Their site has been approved by Verisign in terms of providing worthwhile encryption to give their members a secure website to sign up with.
Obviously the word ‘free’ caught our attention quickly, and this service has been mentioned by the Today Show, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. That’s an impressive group of media to be recognized by. They offer more services than identity protection company’s (including $50,000 worth of insurance) that cost $20 or more a month, and they offer different plans if you want additional services. They even offer fraud assistance under their free plan, though if you want 24/7 support, you’d have to sign up for the paid plans.
They’ve also been written up by a variety of independent groups with flying colors, and received multiple awards.
The site is a little inconclusive about how it all works until you get to the payment screen. It seems that they may be offering full identity theft protection, but the free plan only covers TransUnion’s information. While you’ll generally find the same score across all 3 platforms, it’s helpful to have more information than that. Creditkarma.com offers you information from two of the bureaus for free, plus a report card and insight into your finances too. However, their alerts and insurance plan seem second to none, which is quite a service to offer to your members.
If you’re concerned about your identity, but don’t want to part with your money to stop thieves, then this may be company for you. The features are even more elaborate than other free websites, and their devotion seems pure to keeping you safe from identity thieves. It may be worth signing up through a different service though if you want the full scale protection. Their prices are reasonable, but you may actually find better deals for more exhaustive services through a more established company when it comes to going through the Dark Web for information.
Credit Sesame offers several plans, and you can get the following full protection below with their Platinum plan or fewer services with their other options.
There are four types of plans available with the following services available. Each plan includes the same basic features of the one before it, unless otherwise noted. The one-bureau monthly full report refers to your entire credit file from TransUnion, while the three-bureau full reports shows you the full file from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
You can sign up on their website for the free plan, and you can also contact them through Facebook, Google +, Linked In, Twitter or by the below email addresses. It appears you’ll need to enroll for the paid plans to receive the numbers to call for assistance.
Consumer Inquiries: help@creditsesame.com
General Inquiries: info@creditsesame.com
CEO Adrian Nazari started Credit Sesame after serving as CEO of Financial Crossing & Financial Circuit. He received his MBA from Stanford and is devoted to getting affordable credit services to the average consumer. Credit Sesame has won a Consumer World Award, a U.S. Mobile and App Design Award, an Interactive Media Award, a Gold Stevie Award, an American Business Award, a Best in Biz Award, a Red Herring Top 100 Award and a Mom’s Choice Award. Their full site gives you information on practically everything you would want to know about credit, and the information is updated on a regular basis. Site is easy to navigate and perfect for anyone who cares about their finance profile.