Discover has just announced two new benefits for primary cardholders:
- Social Security Number Alerts. They will alert you if your SSN is found on a risky website
- New Account Alerts. They will notify you if any new credit cards, mortgages, car loans or other accounts are opened on your Experian report.
The second option is just credit monitoring and is available freely on other sites so isn’t that interesting. It is nice it’s based on Experian data as it means you can use this and Credit Karma and cover all three credit bureaus. In terms of the social security number alerts they will search risky sites (the dark web) to see if your SSN appears and if it does they will send you an e-mail alert (you can also opt in for text alerts). Discover also says that if a cardholders SSN is found and they receive an alert Discover agents will be trained to walk them through the necessary steps to help them resolve the issue. Keep in mind these need to be activated, so do that now if you’re interested in this.
I like when card issuers add these types of benefits. Discover has previously add freeze it, allowing cardholders to turn on and off their credit cards (great if you’ve misplaced a card but don’t want to give it up as stolen) and Discover score card (giving even non cardholders access to a free FICO score). It helps their cards are also competitive as well:
- Discover it Secured. Easily the best secured credit card on the market.
- Discover it Miles. 1.5x points per $1 spent. Cashback doubled first year giving you 3x points (effectively 3% cash back) first year. Making it one of/if not the best every day card for the first year.
- Discover it. 5% cashback on rotating purchases with no annual fee. Cashback is doubled first year as well.
I want to be informed when my ssn is used by anyone other then myselfl
I think the real question is, what should you do if your SSN has been compromised. Any ideas, Will?
Not sure to be honest, I know what to do if specific accounts have been opened but not if your SSN has been compromised. Any other readers have some good resource pages I can read?
If that happens, place a fraud alert or freeze your files. You can also freeze chexsystems by mail. You’ll need to contact your local social security office. I’ve spoken to a few customers who had to change their SSN. At the institution I work for, we require several forms from the Social security office. It can be an even bigger headache if the customer has deposit accounts with us as well, as they have more federal requirements to verify.
Does it count at the least as a soft pull every time they “look”?
No affect on your credit.
Does this also apply to joint users/authorized users as well?
No it does not. You must be the main card holder.
Primary account holders only, will add this.
SSN alert is pretty innovative.
I haven’t heard of any free monitoring service that offers such useful alert.
Nice perk by Discover.
Competition is a great thing.