TrustedID

Author: Kaitlyn Short

TrustedID began operations as an independent company in 2004. In 2013, it was acquired by Equifax and has operated as a subsidiary of Equifax since that time. In this review, we'll take a look at TrustedID's IDEssentials product in detail.

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The Good

• Triple-bureau credit reports
• Live chat support
• Identity protection
• Plan options

Triple-Bureau Credit Reports

In addition to monitoring for, and alerting members of, key changes to their credit reports, as a part of its IDEssentials plan, TrustedID provides its members with credit reports from each of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This enables customers to get a solid, comprehensive look at their credit health.

Live Chat Support

TrustedID offers live chat support on its website for both prospectiveand current members. We wanted to spotlight this because too few companies in this industry offer chat support. In our opinion, the more ways to contact customer service, the better, especially when a company is willing to provide this level of support before one signs up. The response time is acceptable and questions are answered in a timely manner.

Identity Protection

As one can gather from its name, TrustedID is primarily an identity theft protection company. As such, it does offer a fairly robust suite of identity protection and monitoring tools, including Facebook privacy monitoring, credit monitoring, black market monitoring, a proprietary identity theft score that measures one's risk of having their identity stolen, lost wallet protection, live identity protection specialists, and the like.

Plan Options

TrustedID offers a number of plan options that range in price from $9.17 to $24.99 per month. Because there are several packages to choose from, customers have the ability to select a plan that fits their budget and coverage needs.

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The Bad

• Undisclosed scoring model
• Lack of updates
• Monthly refresh rate

Undisclosed Scoring Model

It is unclear which model TrusteID uses to report its customers' credit scores. The vast majority of lenders use the FICO model, but there are a number of credit monitoring companies that only report the VantageScore. Because of this, there can be major differences in the score that customers believe they have and the score that lenders actually see. This lack of transparency can be frustrating for potential customers who want to make sure that they will be receiving FICO scores.

Lack of Updates

TrustedID's website seems to be very dated, which can be an issue because customers primarily access and use the companies services online. Additionally, it appears that the company does not provide a mobile app for its customers.

Monthly Refresh Rate

TrustedID only refreshes credit scores and reports once per month. This is not up to par, as scores can change drastically within that time frame and many companies in the industry provide weekly or even daily updates.

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The Bottom Line

TrustedID offers triple-bureau credit reporting, live chat support, identity protection services, and several plan options. However, the company has not disclosed which scoring model it uses and only refreshes scores on a monthly basis. Additionally, TrustedID's website seems dated and no mobile app is offered.

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