Professor Sahar Bahmani Featured in Wallethub on Free Credit Monitoring

The following is a WalletHub interview with Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Economic Education (CEE) Dr. Sahar Bahmani. Link to Wallethub article: https://wallethub.com/free-credit-monitoring/#sahar-bahmani 

Has the increased availability of free credit monitoring services made consumers safer?

I strongly believe that the increased availability of free credit monitoring services has made consumers much safer these days -- real-time information and regular monitoring keeps consumers very safe.

What are the most important things to look for in a free credit monitoring service?

The most important things to look for in free credit monitoring services is that they help you stay on top of your credit with the services that they provide you, and the fact that if they notice important changes on your credit reports, they will send you an alert so you can check for suspicious activity.

Given the prevalence of data breaches, should everyone sign up for free credit monitoring?

No, I don't think it's important that everyone signs up for free credit monitoring, because it is more important for those people who are in need of regular access to their credit score, such as someone who is going to be applying for a car loan, home mortgage loan, small business loan or student loan. If you are not in need of these things within the next two years, then I'd skip the free credit monitoring.

Free credit monitoring is available to everyone, so should data-breach victims be satisfied with receiving such a service from a company that was breached?

Yes, most certainly.