Partner product | We earn $5 if you enroll
Monitoring, and the free things you should do first.
We partner with SmartCredit and we're paid for it, so here is the honest version: what monitoring does, what it doesn't, the free controls that matter more, and what's actually included if you decide it's worth it.
Freeze prevents, monitoring notices. The two jobs drawn side by side on a timeline.
1200 x 750The disclosure, up front rather than at the bottom
Ninja Credit Consultants receives $5 when a new customer enrolls in SmartCredit through our link. That's the entire compensation. It doesn't change what you pay, and it's small enough that it isn't a reason to recommend something you don't need.
We're telling you first because a recommendation you can't price is worth less than one you can. SmartCredit is operated by ConsumerDirect, Inc. Monitoring is not credit repair, and enrolling will not change anything on your credit reports by itself.
Before you spend anything
Three free things that matter more than monitoring
We'd rather you do these and skip the product than buy the product and skip these. They're free, they take an afternoon, and they do more for your security than any paid service will.
Freeze your credit at all three bureaus
Free to place and free to lift, at Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion separately. A freeze prevents new accounts being opened in your name. Monitoring only tells you afterwards. If you do one thing on this page, do this one.
Pull your reports at AnnualCreditReport.com
Free, weekly, all three bureaus. That's the federally authorized source, and weekly access is permanent.
Fix your passwords and turn on two-factor
Unique passwords in a manager, and an authenticator app rather than text codes where you have the choice.
The full prevention checklist -> | All free official tools ->
The honest case
So what does monitoring actually add?
A fair question once you've done the free things, and there is a real answer. Freezes block new accounts. They don't tell you about changes to accounts you already have, and they don't watch anything outside your credit file.
What it genuinely does
- Alerts you to changes between your own report pulls, rather than whenever you remember to check.
- Flags suspicious transactions and spending pattern changes.
- Shows privacy exposure: sites holding your personal information, with a route to request removal.
- Includes up to $1 million in identity theft insurance, subject to the policy's own terms and conditions.
- Score tracking, so you can see movement rather than guessing.
What it doesn't do
- Prevent anything. It's a smoke alarm, not a lock.
- Repair your credit or remove anything from your reports.
- Replace a freeze. These do different jobs.
- Stop your information being collected in the first place.
- Guarantee you won't be targeted. Nothing sold anywhere can promise that.
Someone who's been in a breach, is actively rebuilding and wants to watch progress, or knows they won't remember to pull reports every week. That's a real group of people and monitoring serves them well.
Someone who hasn't frozen their credit yet should go do that instead. It's free, it does more, and we'll still be here afterwards.
What's included from us
A free one-to-one session with every new enrollment
New customers get a session with Ian, included, at no charge. Not a sales call with a session attached - an actual working hour.
- We go through your situation and what you're actually trying to accomplish.
- We read your credit profile together and explain what each line is doing to it.
- We activate your $1 million fraud protection so it's switched on rather than sitting unused in an account you forgot about.
- We check for privacy leaks and show you what's exposed and how to request removal.
- We tell you exactly what to do first - whether you're establishing credit, strengthening it, or correcting something that's wrong.
That last one is the point. Most people's problem isn't a lack of information, it's not knowing which of twelve things to start with.
New customers only. Verification can take up to 24 hours before the session is scheduled.
Worth saying
Why this page talks you out of things
Because $5 is not worth a reader's trust. If this page read like every other monitoring affiliate page, you'd discount everything else on the site, and the rest of the site is where the actual business is.
The products we recommend elsewhere follow the same rule. The credit builder card on the personal credit page earns us nothing at all, and that page says so. The tools page is entirely unmonetized and always will be.
Questions
What people actually ask
How are you compensated for this?
Ninja Credit Consultants receives $5 when a new customer enrolls in SmartCredit through our link. That is the entire compensation and it does not change what you pay.
SmartCredit is operated by ConsumerDirect, Inc. We have no other financial relationship with them.
Is monitoring the same as credit repair?
No. Monitoring watches your file and tells you when something changes. It does not dispute anything, remove anything, or alter your credit reports in any way.
If you have inaccurate information on a report, that's a dispute process, and you can file one yourself for free. How disputes actually work ->
Should I buy this instead of freezing my credit?
No. Do the freeze first, and it's free. A freeze prevents new accounts being opened in your name. Monitoring tells you after something has already happened.
They do different jobs, and the free one does the more important job. Plenty of people buy monitoring and never freeze anything, which is backwards.
What is the $1 million fraud insurance, exactly?
It's identity theft insurance included with the product, covering certain costs associated with recovering from identity theft up to a $1 million limit. Like any insurance, it has its own terms, conditions, exclusions, and claim requirements, and those govern what's actually covered.
Read the policy terms rather than the headline number. And note that it covers recovery costs, not your stolen money being replaced.
What's in the free session?
A working hour with Ian: your situation, your credit profile read line by line, activating the fraud protection so it's actually switched on, checking your privacy exposure, and a clear answer on what to do first.
New customers only, and verification can take up to 24 hours before scheduling. It isn't a sales call; the thing being sold already happened.
Done the free things and still want the visibility?
Then it's a reasonable buy, and the session that comes with it is genuinely useful. If you haven't frozen your credit yet, do that first - it costs nothing and we'd rather you did.
Affiliate disclosure. Ninja Credit Consultants LLC receives $5 when a new customer enrolls in SmartCredit through our referral link. SmartCredit is a product of ConsumerDirect, Inc. NCC is not affiliated with ConsumerDirect beyond this referral arrangement. Credit monitoring is not credit repair and does not alter credit report data. Identity theft insurance is subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions and limits of the policy provided with the product. NCC does not provide legal advice of any kind. See the full disclosures page.