Why (& How) You Should Be Monitoring Your Credit

If you're looking to enhance your financial health, one habit to embrace is monitoring your credit. Monitoring your credit involves regularly reviewing your credit report for inaccuracies and detecting potential moves you can make to improve your credit score. Here's what you need to know about the benefits of monitoring your credit and tips for how you can get started.

The Advantages of Monitoring Your Credit

There are numerous benefits associated with monitoring your credit. You can observe firsthand how your financial habits are impacting your overall credit. For example, if you're carrying a balance on your Clark County Credit Union credit card, you'll see that your score improves as you pay the balance down. Or, if you've had a few late loan payments in the past, you'll see that being vigilant with on-time payments will boost your score.

Another reason to monitor your credit is it ensures the accuracy of your credit report. False derogatory information can negatively impact your credit. Estimates state that approximately 20 percent of credit reports have inaccurate info.

Consistent credit monitoring also allows you to quickly detect fraud. If someone opens an account in your name, you need to know as soon as possible so you can report the account and take the necessary steps to preserve your credit and prosecute the responsible party.

How to Get Started with Credit Monitoring

There are a few ways you can start monitoring your credit. One option is to request a free credit report from one of the national credit bureaus.

Since you can obtain one free credit report from each bureau once per year, if you time your requests right, you can get a copy every four months. However, monitoring your credit score with this alternative is a bit more cumbersome, as you'll need to request and pay for your credit score every time you want to see it.

Another alternative is to utilize a credit monitoring service. Not only does a credit monitoring service allow you to obtain copies of your credit history and credit score, but you can also sign up for alerts to notify you of changes to your credit history. This makes it easy for you to quickly detect potentially fraudulent activity.

At Clark County Credit Union, we offer free credit monitoring with our Bonus Checking Account. You receive constant access to your credit score so you can see how it's changing. Our credit monitoring also includes fraud alerts to inform you of changes to your credit report. These updates make it easier for you to detect fraud and report it before it negatively impacts your finances.

Ready to start monitoring your credit? Connect with Clark County Credit Union today to open your Bonus Checking Account!