Experian CreditWorks Deal: Free Trial

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Credit scores play a vital role in your financial life, especially if you plan to make any large purchases such as a home or vehicle. Ninety percent of the top lenders use FICO® credit scores in determining someone’s creditworthiness.

Staying on top of your credit report not only keeps you in tune with your status, but it also helps you formulate a plan to improve your credit. Experian CreditWorks℠ makes detailed credit tracking simple, and right now, you can order your Experian™ credit report and FICO score for $1 (paid with a credit card) and enroll in free 7-day a trial.

When you order your $1 Credit Report and FICO® Score here, you will begin your 7-day trial membership in Experian CreditWorks℠. If you don’t cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period, you will be billed $21.95 for each month that you continue your membership. You may cancel your trial membership anytime within the trial period without charge.

Credit score calculated based on FICO® Score 8 model. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO Score than FICO Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more.

What Is Experian CreditWorks℠?

Experian CreditWorks is a comprehensive credit and identity protection program. Signing up for CreditWorks gives you access to an expansive credit toolkit designed to help you understand, track and improve your credit reports. CreditWorks has four primary components: credit monitoring, CreditLock™, identity theft monitoring and Experian Boost™.

Credit Reports, Scores and Monitoring

With CreditWorks, users receive monthly credit reports and scores for the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Daily access to your Experian report and FICO score is also included. Daily credit monitoring helps you stay on top of any significant changes to your credit reports.

Besides your FICO credit score, you’ll also receive additional FICO scores such as auto, home and your bank card.

Experian CreditWorks provides a 360-degree look at your credit through other features like:

• Credit score tracking
• FICO Score alerts
• FICO Score simulator

Experian CreditLock™

Keeping your credit information secure is crucial, and Experian CreditLock allows users to lock and unlock their credit report. Consider CreditLock as a virtual safe for your Experian credit report — it keeps unwanted viewers out of your report. It also alerts you anytime someone tries to access it.

Who would be trying to access your credit report without your knowledge?

• Collection agencies
• Landlords
• Mobile service providers
• Financial institutions
• Lenders

The good news is that users still have access to the report and can unlock it at any time, such as when you fill out a credit application or open a new account. There’s no waiting period either. Locking and unlocking occur immediately.

Identity Theft Monitoring and Protection

Experian takes identity theft seriously, and that shows through the features included with a CreditWorks trial. Identity theft monitoring and protection offer peace of mind that your information is safe. Users get up to $1 million identity theft insurance through Experian.

Lost wallet assistance and a U.S. based fraud resolution specialist are available if you need them. But Experian wants to prevent any issues, not just deal with them after the fact. CreditWorks comes with Dark Web surveillance, which searches thousands of websites for identifying personal information, and extensive credit report monitoring. That includes:

• Social Security number
• Address changes
• Financial account monitoring
• File-sharing network monitoring
• Social network monitoring

Experian Boost™

Experian Boost™ is a service that works to increase your credit score almost instantly. With Experian Boost, you get credit for phone and utility bills. After linking the personal bank account used to pay for those bills, your positive payments are added to your credit file, potentially increasing your credit score. The average Experian Boost user averages a 13-point score increase.

Experian IdentityWorks℠

If you like what Experian CreditWorks offers with its identity monitoring but want more, consider Experian IdentityWorks℠. The product offers the same ID theft monitoring, Dark Web surveillance and up to $1 million in ID theft insurance, plus three-bureau credit monitoring and access to fraud resolution experts.

That said, it also adds lost wages insurance, elder care, spousal care and child care coverage and coverage for an initial legal consultation, if someone steals your identity. You can choose between the Plus and Premium plans, which come with a $9.99 and $19.99 monthly cost, respectively. Also, there's a 30-day free trial to test it out.

In most cases, it doesn't make sense to get both CreditWorks and IdentityWorks, so take some time to compare each option to make sure you find the right fit for you.

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Experian vs. Equifax vs. TransUnion

Experian is just one of three nationwide credit bureaus, all of which keep track of your credit reporting. However, Experian has the best consumer-facing tools and credit monitoring services among the three credit reporting agencies. It's the only bureau that offers free access to your FICO score and Experian credit report.

TransUnion's credit monitoring service doesn't even include a FICO score at all, and while Equifax offers an older version of the FICO score with its Score Watch® product, opting for three-bureau credit monitoring will give you a proprietary Equifax credit score. All three give you fraud protection benefits.

So if you simply want a free credit score and free credit report to keep an eye on your credit history, Experian's free service is the best choice. And if you want to upgrade to a paid service with the best access to your FICO score from all three credit bureaus, Experian is still your best choice.

FICO Score vs. Other Credit Scores

The FICO score isn't the only credit score out there, but it's the one most widely used by lenders when you apply for a loan or credit card. So if you want to see a score that's closest to what your lenders see, go with FICO. The VantageScore is another major credit score — TransUnion offers a VantageScore 3.0 with its paid service, as does popular credit monitoring service Credit Karma — and each credit bureau has their own scoring model they can use as well.

But the VantageScore and other scores may consider different factors or look at the same factors but weight them differently. Because of these differences and the fact that most lenders don't use them, these scores (sometimes called FAKO scores) are generally considered educational in nature.

Experian CreditWorks℠ Trial

Right now, when you order a $1 Experian credit report and FICO Score, you’ll receive a 7-day trial membership to Experian CreditWorks. The monthly cost after the trial is currently $21.95, which you can pay with a credit card. But you can cancel anytime before the trial ends and you won’t be billed. Also, keep in mind that you can choose a free version of CreditWorks, which doesn't require a credit card, but doesn't offer nearly as many perks.

CreditWorks provides complete access and monitoring to every detail of your credit and credit report. Take a week to test out the CreditWorks trial, get your detailed credit information and cancel your membership if it’s not right for you. Even at full price, Experian CreditWorks is a value if you’re looking for some of the best credit and identity theft monitoring tools available today.

The credit monitoring benefit may only be available for five days during your trial period since enrollment can take up to 48 hours. You may cancel your trial membership any time during your first seven days without charge.