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From...
Check your credit online
Now available on Infoseek, the ConsumerInfo.Com service can alert you if your credit reports change.
November 30, 1998
Web posted at: 10:40 AM EST
by Daniel S. Levine
(IDG) -- Infoseek has teamed with ConsumerInfo.Com, an online provider of personal credit information, to give you access to your credit reports and alert you when changes are made to them.
ConsumerInfo.Com delivers secure copies of credit reports from Experian, the largest of the three national credit bureaus. ConsumerInfo.Com is offering a free credit report and 30-day trial of its service, but charges $54.95 for a year-long subscription.
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The subscription includes unlimited access to credit reports, plus e-mail alerts about negative changes and activity that could indicate fraud. Subscribers also gain access to a toll-free number for help interpreting the report.
"If a consumer is paying late, or not making credit card payments, they know that before it hits a credit report," said Ken McEldowney, executive director of the San Francisco-based nonprofit group Consumer Action. "The only thing this might be a safeguard against is some kind of fraud -- and my understanding is that the credit reporting agencies have safeguards."
McEldowney, who is not familiar with ConsumerInfo.Com, said while it's a good idea for consumers to check their credit reports once a year, it is generally best for privacy safeguards to go directly to the credit bureau rather than use an intermediary.
Ed Ojdana, president and chief executive officer of ConsumerInfo.Com, said the company does not share any of the information with third parties, although the company's privacy statement does suggest subscribers make a formal request that it never share information such as mailing addresses, should its policy change in the future.
Experian, which supplies the data to ConsumerInfo.Com, offers consumers a copy of their credit report for $8 or less, depending on where they live. Experian will send a free credit report to people who have been denied credit, employment, insurance, or rental housing based at least in part on information in their Experian credit report. The company will also provide a free report to consumers who are unemployed, victims of fraud, or on welfare. Under state laws, residents of Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont are entitled to one free report each year.
The ConsumerInfo.Com-Infoseek deal represents an ongoing effort by Infoseek to expand the content of its site, particularly the offerings in its Personal Finance channel, which the company said is among its most popular areas. For ConsumerInfo.Com, which already has established a presence on Web sites such as Netscape, Yahoo, and Intuit, the agreement further extends its reach.