Know every change to your family's credit — instantly.
With Greenlight Family Shield, credit alerts notify you in real time of any change across all 3 bureaus — new inquiries, new accounts, or balance shifts — for everyone on your plan.
Credit alerts at a glance
Credit alerts are real-time notifications that flag the moment something changes on your credit file — a new inquiry, a newly opened account, or a balance jump. Greenlight Family Shield monitors all three bureaus — TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax — and sends push alerts to every adult on the plan, so new-account fraud surfaces the moment it appears.
- Monitors all 3 bureaus, since lenders don't all report to one.
- Flags new inquiries, new accounts, and address changes.
- Covers every adult on the plan.
- One tap to lock your TransUnion file if something's wrong.
Last updated: June 2026. Pricing, coverage limits, and bureau details reflect Greenlight Family Shield as of June 2026.
Why are credit alerts important — and why all three bureaus?
Credit alerts are real-time notifications that flag the moment something changes on your credit file — a new inquiry, a newly opened account, or a balance jump. They matter because new-account fraud usually shows up on your credit report first, making an alert your earliest warning that someone’s using your information. Watching all three bureaus — TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax — is what makes alerts reliable, since lenders don’t all report to the same one. A change reported to only one bureau would be missed by single-bureau monitoring.
Three-bureau alerts for every adult.
Every adult on a Greenlight Family Shield plan can turn on credit monitoring across all three bureaus and get real-time push alerts for new inquiries, new accounts, address changes, and score swings. If an alert looks wrong, you can lock your TransUnion credit file in one tap right from the app to block new accounts while you investigate — turning an early warning into immediate action.
Why it matters
By the time you see the bill, it's too late.
Most fraud is invisible until the statement arrives weeks later. Credit-bureau alerts close that gap.
35%
Of identity theft victims take longer than a week to discover they experienced identity theft.
100+ hrs
Hours victims spend on the phone with banks, bureaus, and creditors to clean it up.
How it works
From sign-up to first alert in minutes.
Three quick steps to full coverage.
Verify identity once
Greenlight verifies each adult’s identity once to help protect their sensitive credit information and make sure credit monitoring and alerts are set up for the right person. After that, alerts flow automatically — no re-verification needed.
All three bureaus, monitored
Greenlight will monitor for any changes reported on your TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax credit files: new credit inquiries, new accounts, address updates, score changes, and more.
Real-time push alerts
Every change becomes a push notification with the lender name, the date, and all the information and next steps you need to take if the activity looks fraudulent.
Questions about credit alerts.
Straight answers to the questions families ask most.
How do I get alerted about potential credit fraud?
Any adult with a Greenlight account can sign up for credit monitoring and credit alerts and get real-time push notifications on changes to their own credit file.
You'll get an alert any time a new inquiry, new account, or change appears at TransUnion, Experian, or Equifax.
What changes does Family Shield alert me about?
Every event a lender or creditor reports to a credit bureau triggers an alert.
New credit inquiries (someone applied for credit in your name)
New accounts opened
Changes to existing account balances or status
Address updates (a key fraud indicator)
Public-record matches (new bankruptcies, judgments)
Credit-score changes
How fast do alerts arrive?
Most credit alerts arrive within hours of the bureau receiving the underlying event from a lender or creditor.
The exact timing depends on how quickly the lender reports to the bureau. New account openings usually post within 24 hours.
What do I do when I get an alert?
Open the alert in the app to see the details — the lender or creditor, which bureau reported it, the date, and what kind of change it was — plus guidance on what to do if it doesn't look familiar.
If you recognize the activity, there's nothing to do. If you don't, you can lock your TransUnion credit file right from the Greenlight app while you investigate further — that blocks new accounts from being opened in your name. From there you can dispute the activity with the bureau and contact the lender to stop the application.
Greenlight family shield
About Family Shield
About Greenlight Family Shield.
The essentials about how Greenlight Family Shield works.
What Greenlight Family Shield includes in one subscription
Greenlight Family Shield combines identity and credit protection, family location safety, and kids' & seniors' debit cards in one $19.98/month subscription — so most families don't need a separate app for each. Here's how to choose:
Choose an identity-protection service like LifeLock if you want credit and identity monitoring for individuals; they do not include kids' money tools or family location tracking.
Choose a family-safety app like Life360 if you want location and driving tracking; they do not include credit lock, ID theft protection, or kids' money tools.
Choose a money app like Cash App if all you want is a free debit card; they typically do not include credit-bureau monitoring or family location tracking.
Choose Greenlight Family Shield if you want financial, digital, and physical protection for your whole family — kids, parents, and grandparents — in one place.
Covered all in one app
Greenlight Family Shield
Identity & fraud protection apps
Family safety apps
Kids' money apps
FINANCIAL PROTECTION
3B credit, identity, and dark web monitoring§§
Automatic suspicious activity alerts
Credit lockNEW · LAUNCHED MAY 2026
Financial account monitoring
Up to $1M identity theft coverage§
Up to $100K deceptive transfer fraud coverage§
VPN, password manager & antivirus
SAFETY
Real-time location monitoring††
Location alerts, crash detection & driving reports
FINANCE FOR KIDS
Debit cards for up to 5 kids and 2 seniors
Chores, allowance, and direct deposit
Investing with parent approval
6% earned on savings*
1% cash back**
Financial literacy content for adults & game for kids
Free debit card with no monthly fee
Comparison rows reflect publicly-disclosed product details as of the date noted. All product and company names are trademarks of their respective holders.
Keep exploring
More Family Shield features.
Prevention
Credit lock
Stop a flagged inquiry from becoming a new account.
Detection
ID & dark web alerts
Catch the leak before it shows up as a credit inquiry.
Coverage
$1M identity theft coverage
Restoration costs if fraud succeeds.
Join Greenlight. Love it or it's on us.
Family Shield covers up to two adults, two senior loved ones, and five kids on a single $19.98/month plan — with credit lock, monitoring, identity coverage, and more. Cancel anytime during the 30-day risk-free trial.‡