When applying for credit
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In today's world, protecting your financial identity is more important than ever. Fraudsters are increasing finding ways to access personal and financial information, putting your credit at risk. Whether you are victim of fraud, or simply looking to safeguard your future, two tools can help protect your credit: a Credit Freeze and a Credit Lock.
Below you can find information on how the two work and what it means for you if you are applying for any type of credit or financing with Florence Bank. While it is important to protect your personal information, Credit Freeze and Credit Locks can cause significant delays in the application process.
For more information on how to protect yourself from fraud and scams, you can visit our Security & Fraud Center page.
What is a Credit Freeze?
A credit freeze is a free service that can protect you from credit fraud by limiting access to your credit report. It prevents criminals from opening new credit accounts in your name.
When your credit report is frozen, any lender who asks to evaluate your report for purposes of issuing a loan or other credit is denied access to the report. A security freeze won't affect your credit scores, but it will prevent lenders evaluating credit applications from obtaining your credit scores.
Credit freezes must be "thawed" before applying for a line of credit. A credit freeze can always be reinstated after the application process is complete, or you can use a temporary thaw during a set window of time.
What is a Credit Lock?
A Credit Lock is much like a Credit Freeze, such as restricting access to your credit report, but with additional features. Credit Lock services are offered at various costs with features that may include: credit activity alerts, FICO scores from all three national bureaus, and alerts when your personal data or social security number appears on the dark web.
However, like a Credit Freeze, a Credit Lock may restrict lenders to the necessary information to process a credit application.
Can I Apply for Credit if my Credit Report is Frozen?
The purpose of Credit Freezes are to prevent criminals from using your credit history for credit fraud or identify theft. However, this also prevents you from using your credentials to obtain new credit.
When lenders process your credit application, the first step is to request access to your credit report. A frozen credit will prevent them from obtaining this information. If you're applying for a loan or credit card and want lenders to have access to your credit reports, you can perform a temporary lift or a permanent lift.
Credit Locks can also cause delays when applying for a line of credit. Credit Locks restrict access to your credit reports, which in some cases will delay the process for lenders. In many cases, if you use a Credit Lock service, you can turn access to your credit file on and off instantly via smartphone app or online.