Freezing Credit
Why might you want to freeze your credit?
If you want protection from having a credit card or loan opened in your name, or you are no longer interested in taking out any additional loans or opening new credit cards.
What is a credit freeze?
When applying for a loan or new credit card, a bank or financial institution will want to review your credit report before making a decision on your application. Putting a credit freeze on your information prevents banks or financial institutions from seeing your credit information and the loan or credit card application process will most likely stop at that point.
How do I do it?
You must contact EACH of the three, accepted credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and Transunion). If you currently use a service that monitors or handles your financial accounts you might also be able to use that same service to freeze your credit.
Regardless of how you freeze your credit you will receive a PIN (Personal Identification Number). That PIN will be needed to make any changes, including unfreezing your credit should you wish to apply for a new credit card or loan.
You can have your credit frozen at NO cost. It’s free.
Anything else I should know?
A credit freeze only affects the processing of NEW credit cards or loan requests. It does not prevent the use of any credit cards you currently have nor any loans you may have open.
Freezing your credit does NOT prevent you from accessing your own credit reports.
Even if you freeze your credit you should still review your annual credit report and monthly bank and credit card statements to ensure they are correct.
Where can I go to get more help?
FTC: 877-438-4338
Equifax: 888-548-7878
Experian: 888- 397-3742
TransUnion: 800- 916-8800
