Here’s how to freeze your credit for FREE starting Friday

Starting Friday, Sept. 20, Americans will be able to freeze their credit free of charge.

It's part of the new Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act signed into law by President Trump on May 24.  The law largely loosened restrictions placed on banks after the financial crisis (many have called it the "Dodd-Frank rollback"), but it also made changes to the federal laws on consumer credit.

Some financial experts believe credit freezes are one of the best ways to protect against identity thieves and stop new account fraud.  Now people can do it through the three major credit unions without paying a fee.

Here’s how to freeze your credit for free:

-TransUnion: Visit TransUnion.com/credit-freeze The company also has a free freeze mobile app called myTransUnion.

-Equifax: Go to Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services or call its automated line at 800-685-1111

-Experian: Visit www.Experian.com/freeze or call 888-EXPERIAN

A credit freeze blocks a lender from checking your report, which means a criminal would not be able to open an account using your personal data.  President Trump signed the new law into effect eight months after Equifax revealed its consumer database had been breached in a criminal cyber attack, exposing information of as many as 148 million consumers.  Depending on where they lived, consumers had to shell out anywhere from $3 to $10 per freeze and then another fee to lift it.