The United States Federal Trade Commission reported that identity theft reports increased by more than double across the nation from 2019 to 2020. Evidently, even as technology and digitization advances, fraud is going nowhere.

In late April, Discover Financial Services announced Discover Identity Theft Protection, a fee-based identity theft protection product that provides individuals with credit and identity monitoring, alerts and fraud resolution services. With this new product that is open to an expanded audience, Discover hopes to continue protecting not just cardmembers, but all U.S. consumers from issues ranging from identity theft to fraud, all while bringing them peace of mind.

Features and Capabilities

Discover Identity Theft Protection includes a wide range of monitoring and fraud detection alerts.

First, Discover Identity Theft Protection monitors customers’ personal information daily across three major credit bureaus and alerts customers when key changes are reported to their credit file. These changes include the creation of new accounts, new credit inquiries, address changes and any potentially negative information such as delinquencies, as well as changes in public records.

Discover Identity Theft Protection also offers alerts related to bank accounts and social security numbers. If a bank account in the customer’s name opens or updates at any one of the thousands of financial institutions Discover monitors daily, they will receive an alert. Similarly, if a customer’s SSN is used to create a new identity at Experian or is illegally shared on the dark web, they will be alerted.

Other significant changes reported to Experian are also reported by Discover Identity Theft Protection. These include alerts for credit balance charges over $5000, limit changes over $100 and credit utilization over 30%, as well as alerts when someone answers a customer’s Experian verification questions to access or create an account in their name.

Finally, Discover Identity Theft Protection also provides payday loan alerts accounts that open in your name from 23 of the top 25 payday lenders.

The alerts customers may receive can be accessed through Discover Identity Theft Protection’s dashboard. Upon receiving an alert, customers can call a resolution specialist who will walk them through the necessary steps to take to protect themselves and remove fraudulent activity from their credit report. Furthermore, if a customer experiences a covered loss, they will be reimbursed for up to $1 million.

“Discover Identity Theft Protection gives our cardmembers peace of mind and comfort,” said Shannon Kors, vice president of marketing at Discover. “We’re now passing on that same level of protection to everyone as more consumer habits shift online, and concerns rise about who can get access to personal information and what they can do with it. Protecting your identity also means protecting your financial well-being, which is one of the cornerstones of Discover’s mission.”

Customers, regardless of whether they are Discover cardmembers or not, can purchase Discover Identity Theft Protection for $15 a month to protect their personal information and identity. This cost also covers the protection of up to 10 children.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Serena He is a Tech Innovation Fellow from the University of Southern California who is interested in AI and the intersection of design and technology. She enjoys covering news across the digital identity and tech space.

Contact Serena He at serena@identityreview.com.

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