Nice reminder that we should check our credit report with each credit bureau at least once a year. It can be done for free directly with each credit bureau, but it's quite inconvenient. Personally, I prefer to use Borrowell for Equifax and Credit Karma for Transunion.
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Although I agree with the sentiment, I believe that checking your credit report only once a year leaves too long of a gap, especially in this modern age of rampant identity theft and frequent data breaches.
I strongly advise everyone to sign up for Credit Karma & Borrowell, which allows you to check your credit score and report every month. These apps also provide helpful notifications for significant changes in your score, helping you stay vigilant against potential threats.
I think that once a month is a bit too much though. I've been using credit karma and borrowell, and they both alert you when there is a hard hit on your credit or a new account added to your report, so you are easily informed if something happens. I've seen so many people monitoring their credit every few days and worrying about a 10-20 points drop that I wouldn't advise to monitor it more than once a quater, and I personally do a complete review of my reports once every 6 months (although I will admit that I may just check the score from time to time, especially when I receive the dramatic email your score has decreased, that I open the app and see that yes, my score has decreased by 1 pt...).
@mxwarp Unfortunately the Meridian Visa roll out was a mess when they decided to end the partnership with Collabria & brought it in house. There were so many issues, they even gave $50 to all cardholders for the inconvenience...