This article is my response to the question, “Is Credit Sesame a Scam?”.
If you’re looking for a credit monitoring service, chances are you came across Credit Sesame.
Most Credit Sesame reviews are positive… but can they be trusted?
Today we’ll take a closer look at the service and see if it really works – accurately – or if it’s a waste of time.
Credit Sesame Review: Free Services
Credit Sesame is an interesting company in the personal finance industry that provides several free services.
- A Free Credit Score
- Free Credit Monitoring
- Credit Report Card
- Free Identity Theft Protection
Their most popular free service is Credit Score and Monitoring information.
This service will provide you with daily notifications on changes to your credit score as well as monthly reports.
Another free service they offer is free identity theft protection.
Credit Sesame’s identity theft protection service isn’t that fine-tuned but it provides the essential basics.
You’ll be given up to $50,000 worth of identity theft insurance.
But there are other services too, mostly regarding finances…
Credit Sesame’s Financial Services:
One service that makes this company a little different is their focus on personal finances, mainly in the area of loans.
The free report will provide you with some cool insights into loan repayment options, as well as helpful charts to see how your payments compare over time.
You’ll also be entitled to information regarding which loans you qualify for.
Analytics are an important part of credit monitoring and Credit Sesame does a decent job at providing customers with accurate data.
An upcoming feature, called Lending 3.0 is a service that will match customers with the loans they qualify for, and makes it easier to submit an application.
Downsides to Credit Sesame:
Credit Sesame is decent for a free product but there are a few downsides you should know about.
For one, most of their data is pulled from Equifax and TransUnion.
For those of you who are new, Equifax is one of the largest credit report companies in the world… but it’s had some sketchy past issues.
You can read what I think about Equifax here.
In other words, Credit Sesame doesn’t pull data from a bunch of different credit monitoring bureaus, it only takes data from two.
Also you can only see your credit report once, for free, if you want to see it again you have to pay for it.
Another complaint customers have about this company is the website and user area is full of advertisements, even for paid members.
On top of that, the customer hotline is difficult to reach; their customer service isn’t great.
Unlike Legal Shield, where you can reach a representative in a matter of minutes.
However, Credit Sesame’s identity theft protection service is sub-par, and only provides basic protection.
On the subject of identity theft, Credit Sesame does not provide options to restore your identity or reimburse you any losses.
Some Credit Sesame reviews also mention the difficulty of canceling the paid memberships.
Credit Sesame Pros:
Despite the downsides mentioned earlier, I do like some of Credit Sesame’s features.
One aspect I like is the fact you don’t need a credit card to sign-up, unlike other companies.
On the paid plan, members can monitor for all kinds of suspicious activity.
Whenever there is a change on your credit score or an intrusion, a notification will be sent to you.
I also like how you can see which loans are available to you, and the payment options are easy to understand too.
Despite the downsides, the free basic membership is decent for the average person and provides a lot of useful features.
The advanced package is pretty cheap too, only $10/month.
One more thing I like is how easy it is to see your total remaining debt and your payment plans.
There is a feature called My Credit Analysis which examines all kinds of debts, such as: your mortgage, school loans, current debt, and more.
Setting goals is really simple as well.
You can set a goal for a specific task, such as increasing credit score, and the company will provide you with the best route to take.
Or if you want to pay off your loans, there’s an option to set goals for that too.
Is Credit Sesame a Scam?
Absolutely not.
Although Credit Sesame fetches data from Equifax (the company that was recently hacked) it seems like Credit Sesame has not been breached.
Interestingly, the services have been approved by anti-virus giants Norton and McAfee.
Their security system is top-notch.
They do have identity theft protection features, but it’s no where near as sophisticated as other identity theft companies.
One more thing to keep in mind is most of Credit Sesame’s service are free.
And the reason their free is because the website has a ton of ads, mostly for other credit card companies.
So they can provide services for free because they make money from ad-revenue.
Summarizing Credit Sesame:
In my opinion, Credit Sesame is worth a look if you’re only looking for credit monitoring tools, especially free ones.
They’ll provide you with some decent options to pay off loans.
I liked the goal setting idea and think its perfect for anyone who has a lot of debt to repay.
In short, Credit Sesame is not a scam, it is a legitimate secure credit monitoring company.
Definitely worth a look.
On the other hand, if you want more advanced features, I recommend ID Shield.
Read our ID Shield Review Here >>
But if you need a free and simple online service to quickly check your credit score, Credit Sesame is a good choice.
Hopefully that answers the question, “Is Credit Sesame a Scam?” and you know what you’re getting into.
Thanks for taking the time to read this article! Leave a comment if you have any questions.
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