How long does it take a credit monitoring service to discover a new account has been opened?

Question

I pay for a credit monitoring service every month. March 1st I opened a new account, and expected the service to notify me of the change, since they have no proof I was the one who opened the account. Typically how long does it take a credit monitoring service to discover changes made on an account? To my knowledge they only work with one bureau, not all three. I have not called them because I want to see if they ever notify me. If not, I'm closing the service and requesting a refund.

Also, is there a service which provides daily updates from all 3 credit bureaus?

Answer 1

The credit reporting monitoring service will usually notify you of activity in a short time frame say 24 to 48 hours, check the FAQ on the credit bureau monitoring service where you signed up. A new account can take 60 to 90 days to appear on your credit report. Many lenders submit there updates from the prior month in the first week of the new month. http://www.aboutmycredit.com/

Answer 2

Credit monitoring is a common topic at the message boards at http://www.myFICO.com

One thing you should check: go into the My Account section of the Credit Monitoring website and look at the options and how you have set them or how the company has set them. Most systems give you "default" choices, but these choices might not be exactly what you want. As a result of these default choices, you might be missing notifications. Did you read the website's and application's terms and conditions agreement for discussion of these default settings?

So change your options settings, if necessary, and be sure to click a "save" or "confirm" type of button.

Sometimes the problem can be with the lender, not the Credit Reporting Agency. You'll need to know when the lender reports, and what the lender reports. Typically, there is a "cut" date when the lender takes a picture of your account (typically, just after the closing date of the billing cycle), and a different reporting date, when the lender sends the picture/snapshot to the CRAs. Policies on reporting differ, so call the creditor and ask when the creditor reports.

Data gets lost, sometimes. I've seen credit reports on which the debtor has no reporting of the debt for months, yet the debtor has hardcopy proof (bank statements, bills) that the account is current, paid, never late. For some reason, either the creditor stops reporting it, or the CRA doesn't receive and post the data into your history. Have you checked for this possibility?

Best wishes in getting to the real problem and solution. I'd hate to see you give up on a worthwhile service when the problem wasn't the service's fault.

Answer 3

It sounds like this service will notice when the account is reported by the creditor. That usually happens once a month. If you are going to pay for a monitoring service, find one that reports when someone checks your credit BEFORE approving your account.

Answer 4

It should take about a month. It can take longer depending on when the new account is reported to the credit bureaus and when your credit monitoring service pulls your snapshot.

Answer 5

They should be alerted the minute someone applies and they shoudl follow up to see if the account was opened or not ...

Good Luck!