Last Updated on August 4, 2021 by Yetty Akindele
In Canada, your credit score is pretty much the most significant determinant of your financial opportunities. It decides whether you’ll be able to make big purchases by playing an important role in your ability to borrow and hold credit.
Therefore, it’s important to have instant access to your credit score at any given time. You should also be able to carry out soft checks which do not hurt your score. In the past, obtaining your credit score cost as much as $20. Nowadays, there are services that provide you with it whenever you need it at a token or no fee.
One such service is Credit Verify. Credit Verify, gives you access to your Transunion credit score risk-free at no charge. You also get your credit report for a monthly fee. Additionally, your information is secure if using this platform. This reputed service will let you know your credit score and credit history right when you demand it. Credit Verify also lets users know about their daily credit usage and has a number of other useful features.
Key Highlights
1. Instant Credit Reports
Credit Verify allows you to easily and instantly access your credit score whenever you want. You get a personalized credit report that reveals how well you’re making your due payments in time. The report also gives an insight into your financial status, citing statistics to allow you to make better future decisions.
2. Credit Score Simulator
Credit Verify’s credit score simulator feature allows you to see the impact of your future monetary decisions on your financial health. You can easily estimate the impact of taking a loan, buying a house, or financing a new car on your credit score.
3. Access to Credit History
Credit Verify also allows you to access your credit score history through its additional credit monitoring service. You can use various tools and see graphs showing your credit history over time. This makes it easier for you to understand the trends in your financial health.
4. Alerts
Another of the Credit Verify’s useful features is its ability to instantly inform you about an activity that takes place through your credit card. There’s even an option to activate alerts and ping you whenever your credit score changes.
5. Monthly $25 Value Reward
For as long as you are a premium Credit Verify member, you will receive $25 in reward dollars each month. This reward can be used to save on popular brands like Nike, McDonald’s, and a couple of other big brands.
6. Credit Score Management
Credit Verify’s premium services include credit score management. The service providers access your credit score and history to find errors in your credit score’s calculation. They also guide you about how you can get it settled with different bureaus to improve your overall credit rating. However, availing this service may require you to pay other than just your monthly fee.
Other than these, you also get access to exclusive features as a premium member. These include debt assistance, credit cards, loans credit improvement and so many other financial tools.
Why Do You Need To Know Your Credit Score?
As mentioned above, your credit score plays a significant role in your everyday money-related matters. There are a number of things that make it an important part of your life. Here are some of the reasons you need to have an accurate idea of your credit score:
- Your credit score allows you to qualify for loans that have good interest rates. For someone who knows their credit score accurately, all that’s required is a little research about banks offering the most reasonable interest rates. This way, you can easily borrow a loan from the bank that suits you the most in terms of interest.
- Sometimes, a low credit score can lessen your chances of getting hired at your dream job. If you know your credit score, you can try improving it before applying for the job you want.
- A credit score can increase or decrease due to various reasons. If you keep a check on your credit score regularly, you can easily understand how your credit score moves and know what to do to improve your financial health.
You can read more details about the importance of your credit score here.
How It Works
TransUnion and Equifax are two of the most trusted credit bureaus in Canada. Credit Verify is powered by Transunion and therefore has instant access to your credit score. TransUnion uses the Vantage Score model to calculate your credit score. The calculations under this model are done by keeping your credit reports from major bureaus across the country in view.
Under this model, there is a fixed and defined range of credit scores falling between 300 and 850. Anything that is less than 660 in your report is understood as bad credit. This score is continuously being read by Credit Verify, and that’s what allows you to keep a check on it all the time. Remember as said earlier this is a soft check that doesn’t hurt your score.
You can sign up for Credit Verify right now if you want. The process of availing the services is very easy and requires you to follow a few basic steps. Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to sign up for Credit Verify’s services:
- Sign up by clicking here.
- Fill out the registration form, giving the correct details.
- Once done, go to the next step. Another form will pop-up where you’ll have to fill in your credit card details. You should note that Information shared on this platform is protected by encryption. Hence, your details are safe.
- You’ll be taken to the “Terms and Conditions” and “Privacy settings” with different fee-related information on the page. These different fee details are separate from the fee that needs to be paid to TransUnion for credit score monitoring. However, there is no obligation to make a huge payment at this point. You can keep on with the account creation process, filling in other required details.
- Create your username and password.
- Go back to the website’s home page and log in to your account to see your credit report and live credit score.
Fees and Reward System
To access your Transunion credit score is free. However, your credit report on this platform is charged at $1 for a 7-day trial period. This trial allows you to take a test of the platform and the benefits it offers. Following this trial period, billing is at the rate of $29.95 monthly. The trial fee is refundable if you so desire and membership can be canceled at any time.
As a reminder, the monthly fee will be automatically charged to the credit card on account when trial period ends. If you will not want to continue with the services offered, then it is advisable you cancel your subscription before the end of the free trial. All you have to do is either call their customer care on the numbers given on their website or write them a letter for account cancellation.
If you remain an active member throughout the month, Credit Verify will give you a $25 reward bonus. You can use this reward for shopping, dine-outs, or travel in top stores such as Nike, Michael Kors, McDonalds and a couple of other companies.
Pros and Cons
Still can’t decide if this service is right for you? Well, here are some Pros and Cons based on users’ opinions that will surely help you decide:
Pros
- Easy sign up: Signing up on Credit Verify is an easy and smooth process. No long call confirmations, or hard to understand terms and conditions.
- Quick access: Right after you sign up, you can get instant access to your credit score. This is way quicker than many other similar services that claim a fast credit score reporting.
- Accurate and precise information: Because the service is with TransUnion, there is a rare chance that you’d ever get wrong credit score information on Credit Verify. Additionally, the information is detailed and clear enough to communicate exactly what is needed.
- Secure: You get instant updates regarding what’s happening via your account. Encryption on the website ensures that your account won’t get hacked into.
- Future credit forecast: Credit Verify comes with a tool to allow for score simulation. This helps you assess the impact of your future expenditures on your credit score. This can guide important financial decisions as an example, before applying for loans.
- Negative credit removal: Credit Verify services can easily detect any mistakenly added negative score to your credit and other such errors. You can get helpful advice regarding how to correct such errors to improve your credit score.
- Reward bonus: You’ll get a $25 reward for every month that you’re active on the site to spend on anything you like.
Cons
- High monthly charges: Paying $29.95 each month isn’t affordable for everyone. However, the services you get in exchange mean you get value for money.
- Cancellation option: As stated, you only have two options to get your account canceled. There’s no way to unsubscribe directly from the site or through e-mail.
Conclusion
Credit Verify is a reliable option if you want to keep a constant check on your credit score. As I said earlier, it’s important to know your credit score at all times for many different reasons. The fact that you get easy access to your financial health status, availability of instant detection of credit score errors and easily monitor your credit score’s movement are reasons why you should consider subscribing to the services of Credit Verify.