Banks all over the country are beginning to push sales of identity theft services, but the question is this: Can you get the same level of protection you’d get with a company that specializes in identity theft protection?
Many banks are ramping up their marketing of protection packages through pop-up and banner ads on banking Web sites, and through customer service pitches in branches, as well as on the phone or in the mail. Pricing is similar to what is being charged by identity theft protection services. Some banks are offering a promotional rate of $1 for the first month, then the regular rate afterward.
The services provide daily credit monitoring, and promise to send alerts about new accounts being opened by someone else in a customer’s name. They also give customers access to their credit reports. Banks are offering the service to fill revenue gaps left by the absence of overdraft and interchange fees, and other traditional sources of income.
The banks are pitching these services, which are mostly unregulated, to their existing customer base.
But the fact is that most of these services only offer credit monitoring, which tracks credit reports for changes indicative of fraud, like an address change or new credit card application, and then alerts the customer. Some go a step further by monitoring online chat rooms where data thieves sell information, which represents a very small percentage of identity thefts overall.
Another fact is that the banks don’t provide the service themselves – they partner with other firms that do the actual monitoring. Many of these firms have numerous complaints registered against them and poor grades with the Better Business Bureau, as well as lawsuits from state attorneys general.
Although you may have done business with your bank for years, you should be leery of this type of identity theft protection. While it may look good on the outside, you may find that you’re not getting any value for your dollar.
This isn’t the case with LifeLock. LifeLock not only provides credit monitoring, but it also provides proactive surveillance, searching online 24/7 for any threat to your personal information. If any threat is found, LifeLock will respond immediately, not only notifying you of the threat, but walking with you through any steps needed to restore order.
And you get LifeLock’s $1 million guarantee. No one is completely immune from identity theft – and if you ever fall victim while a LifeLock customer, LifeLock will spend up to $1 million to make things right. Guaranteed.
Now that’s protection you can take to the bank.
Call LifeLock today. Receive 30 days free and get a 10 percent discount on enrollment with the LifeLock Promo Code “Defense.”
