There are probably very few people who read my blog who haven’t shopped at a Target store in the last year.  After their massive data breach, Target has extended an offer for a year of free credit monitoring to any U.S. customer.  I decided to look into the free monitoring offer and share a few thoughts from the experience.

The Offer

After having a massive data breach why would you trust Target with any of your personal information?  That is a question many might ask.  Don’t worry, your personal information is handled by Experian which has a good history of data security.  It is their business after all.

Registration is simple.  Visit the Target site and enter your name and email to be issued a code for the Experian ProtectMyID service.  Once the code is sent, typically in a matter of minutes not the 72 hours the site says it might take, you will be directed to Experian.  The service is usually $16 a month.

Registration on the Experian site is simple and requires only basic information and your social security number.  Again, Experian is in the business of data security.  If you are on a secure computer there is minimal risk for entering your social security number.

The free service provides basic credit information about your various accounts.  There were a few things on my credit report that I had to think about since it had been a while since they happened, but everything looked good.  The free service does not provide a ‘credit score’.  ProtectMyID provides daily credit monitoring with alerts and access to a customer service specialist who can assist if an issue does arrive.  They will try to sell you access to a credit report with credit score from EquiFax and TransUnion.  Which leads to my next point…

Credit Report vs Credit Score

Your credit report is a detailed accounting of how you handled credit and financial decisions in your past.  The report details your history with credit accounts, the timeliness of making payments, credit requests, and many other details of your financial history.

Your credit score is a numeric summary of all that information on a scale of 350-850.  If you’ve been handling your credit well your number will be high, if you’ve had some bumps and bruises it will be low.  The report impacts the score and the score is often used for the issue of loans, by potential employers, and many others.  Checking both the report and score is a good plan.

Free Credit Report…by Law

Almost everyone knows that you are allowed to receive a free copy of your credit report, by law, every 12 months from each of the credit services – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.  But many may not know how to get the reports since there are so many companies offering ‘free reports.’  By law, the only site for free credit reports is AnnualCreditReport.com.  There is a simple form to fill out and then you can request a report from just one of the services or all of them.

Requesting all of your reports at once allows you to compare data among the three reports to easily find any discrepancies.  Requesting a report every few months allows you to monitor your credit throughout the year for free by using only one of the credit reporting services at a time.  Free credit reports do not include credit scores.

Be Vigilant

It is really easy to swipe it and not pay attention when shopping but recent security breaches at a number of major stores highlight the need to be constantly vigilant.  Whether you take advantage of the free offer from Target or the free reports available by federal law, credit reports should be monitored annually.  Additionally, having a set day each month to review bank statements and credit card records is a great way to monitor spending and to watch out for unexplained charges.  A bit of purposed time each month can save an amazing amount of money and headache.