It's said that only 2% of Americans know their credit score, and even fewer understand what it means and how it affects them. In reality your credit score is vitally important, and it becomes even more so when you need to get a mortgage, a small loan or renegotiate repayments on your existing loans.

Perhaps most importantly, though, is the fact that people who aren't aware of their credit score are much more likely to become victims of identity theft, the fastest growing white collar crime in the US – one that affects as many as 10 million Americans every year.

Today we'll CompareFive to find the top five credit monitoring services, allowing you to protect yourself against the danger or identity fraud and arm yourself with the information you'll need to get the most competitive interest rates on your credit.