azkoolchik asked:


I have a credit score of 700 and wanting another credit card. I was thinking about citi bank or bank of america. What one should I get? I only have one other credit card from Wumu. I want a credit card that report to the 3 credit bureaus every month. Anyone has either one of these cards, if so, what one did you like and why?

awill110 asked:


I got my credit report today and it shows that my total credit amount is $300 and I have $296 available. After further inspection I noticed that only one credit card had reported a credit limit/max balance and that all of my credit cards hadn’t been reported since April. Is there an effective way to contact the credit card companies and get them to report accurate and up to date information to the credit bureaus? I feel that this issue is affecting my credit score, so I would like to fix this.

Thanks in advance.

jenahfah asked:


I’ve had this account for about two years, and I haven’t used it in a long time, and I’m thinking of closing it but I don’t know how it would affect my credit report. This is a secure credit card, with only a $300 limit. I have two other credit cards that I use a lot more often and I’ve been very responsible about paying bills on time.

Mike Clover asked:


Annualcreditreport gives you a credit report free once a year, but they don’t give your credit score. I have been a lender for 7 years, and believe me when it comes to getting your loan done everyone looks at credit scores. Your credit score is a bench mark for banks to sell your loan on the secondary market. Typically investors use your middle credit score to determine your creditworthiness. Here is what myFICO® says in regards to how important it is to know your credit score.

How credit scoring helps you

Credit Score gives lenders a faster snapshot of your credit risk. Most lenders are now using FICO® to determine your score. Before the scoring process was implemented there was a biased opinion of your credit. Now there is less none bias opinion of your creditworthiness with credit score automation process with all 3 credit bureaus. When pulling your credit report with all 3 Credit Bureaus you typically get a score. Since annual does not provide this, you have to get your report through other service providers.

Here are some advantages of credit scores.

* You get loans faster Your credit scores can be delivered with a few key strokes with today’s technology. With the speedy process this helps lenders speed up the decisions making process. Even mortgage applications can be made within ours, instead of weeks.

* Credit Decisions are fairer Credit decisions can be made of facts instead of emotions. Factors like your gender, religion, race, marital status and nationality are not considered by credit scoring.

* More Credit is Available

Lenders can approve more loans because the credit scoring process gives them the information on which to base there decision on. It allows lenders to identity individuals that are likely to perform well in the future even though they have had issues in the past. Each lender has its own credit score guidelines, so if one denies you, you may get approved elsewhere. The use of credit scores gives lender the confidence to offer more credit to people since they better understand the risk they are taking.

* Credit mistakes count for less

If you have credit problems in the past, credit scoring does not let that haunt you forever. Past credit problems fad as time passes as long as new good credit patterns show up. Credit scoring weighs all credit in a file, as opposed to focusing primarily on past issues.

* Credit Rates are lower

The cost of loans decreases when more credit is available. The process of automation in the credit process is less because of the efficiency of the process, which is passed on to the consumer. Buy using the scoring process there are less defaults, and in returns saves the consumer in the long run. Credit Scores have revolutionized the lending arena, and has driven down cost for everyone.

Conclusion:

Now you know why you need to know your scores and how important it is. Recent studies show that 1 out of 4 credit reports have incorrect information on them. Plus identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. You need to check your free credit report with scores every 90 days just to be safe in today’s times. Since your scores are the core in determining whether they will lend you money, shouldn’t you know what they are ? The answer to that is yes.

Floyd Dorrance asked:


Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with”credit score”? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanteto know about “credit score”.

Having a good credit score is very important in today’s society. It is something that many people should have. By having a good credit score,

applying for loans and unsecured credit cards is much easier.

If you already have a good credit score, you will want to raise it in order to obtain the best loan and credit card deals possible. If you have a credit score of 688 and the loan company will reduce interest rates if you get a credit score of 690. The two points can mean thousands of dollars in savings.

This is why it is very important for you toimprove your credit score even if you already have a good credit score. It will mean lower interest rates and also more chances of getting the loans you need.

There are several ways you can improve your credit score. Some ways take time to achieve and some take only a few weeks or even a few days to do. If you start working on it as soon as possible, you will see that it will be worth all the effort.

So, here are some of the ways you can raise your credit score.

The first method for raising your credit score is to check credit reports for errors. Even minor errors can hurt your credit rating.

Now that we’ve covered those aspects of “credit score”, let’s turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

If you ever suspect that your low credit score is caused by an error, you should contact the credit reporting agencies and challenge them about the report. It is part of the law that the reporting agency should investigate and correct the errors within thirty days if there is any.

The next step on how you can raise your credit score is to pay off your balances every month. This can keep you out of debt and save a lot of

money on interest rate. Also, this will demonstrate that you can manage your debt effectively and increase your credit score.

By having only a few credit cards, two at most, will boost your credit score. Having five or more credit cards will in fact, lower your credit score. This is why it is important for you to have only two credit cards.

If you borrowed money before, it is important for you to pay it on time. This will have a positive impact on your credit score because it will show credit reporting agencies and also creditors that you can manage your debt effectively. However, if you have borrowed money before and is long overdue, you should pay it immediately. In time,

these old late payments will be deemed unimportant and it will expire.

Another way to raise your credit score is by managing your credit cards effectively. Don’t use your entire credit limit on each of the credit

cards you own. For example, if you have credit cards with a credit limit of 2000, 2500 and 3000 dollars, it is better to use 600 dollars on each card rather than 1800 dollars in one card. Always keep one thing in mind; it is best for your credit score if you only use less than 50% of your credit card limit.

These are some of the methods you can use to raise your credit score.

Following all these will ensure you that your credit score will increase and will result in better opportunities in the future.

Now might be a good time to write down the main points covered above.

The act of putting it down on paper will help you remember what’s important about “credit score”.

Michelle asked:


I want to fix my credit fast, because my husband and I want to buy a new house in about 6 months. There a lost of credit repair companies out there. They say that they can remove bad hits on your credit report.

Has this worked for anyone? If so, which company? How much did you have to pay them? How much did your credit score increase? How long did it take?

Thanks a bunch!

Thomas Boston asked:


A bad credit score can affect so many different areas of a person’s life, and makes life far more difficult than if you had a good credit score. A bad credit score can lock you out of the best loans, best credit cards, best apartments, houses, and even jobs. Because of this, repairing a bad credit report is extremely important and should be taken on with all the strength and gusto that can be mustered.

The problem is that there is a lot of conflicting information out there about how to repair your credit score, and some of this information is just flat out wrong. Then you have the thousands of guys who want your money before offering any information at all, and outright scammers on top of that. The good news is that while there is no guarantee that every person in the world can upgrade their credit score ‘X’ number of points in ‘X’ amount of days, for most consumers with bad credit in the low to mid 500s or even worse, there are definite ways you can repair your damaged credit score quickly, and 120 points or more isn’t out of the question.

Step #1: Stabilize!

Some of you might already have done this step, but for those who haven’t this is critical. Don’t overpay all your credit card bills $20 a month when you have an old $150 bill sitting in collections. That doesn’t make any sense. The first part of quickly turning around your credit score 120 points or more is to stabilize your current situation.

This means every single bill needs to be paid on time every month. If you have bills that are 120 days or more overdue, pay them or work out a payment plan to avoid those from going to collections. If your bills are 90 days overdue, keep them from going 120. Same process with bills that are 30 and 60 days overdue, and especially for bills that are late, but haven’t hit that 30 day mark where most get reported.

Some credit bureaus have your history of on time (or not) payments account for up to a third of your entire credit score. Even if you’ve been bad about this, paying all your bills on time for even a few months after a long history of not can show immediate dividends for your credit score. On the other side, getting hit with one 30 day overdue mark can drop you 50 points or more in one hit.

Many other credit scores have the 30 day mark account for up to one third of your credit score, so do not let late bills hit this bench mark. Once you are stabilized so you are at least paying all of your bills on time, add an extra penny to credit card bills, car loans, mortgage loans, bank loans, or student loans.

This is my favorite trick for helping out the credit scores of really cash strapped consumers. Your credit score records if you pay on time and if you pay the minimum or pay more. You get more positive points on your credit score for paying more than the minimum, but most credit scores don’t differentiate between whether you pay $100 a month extra, or one penny a month extra. Those extra pennies can add a nice little boost to your credit score.

Step #2: Check Your Credit Reports and Clean Them Up!

Every consumer is entitled to one free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus per year. Order all three and take a close look at them. A conservative estimate says that over 30% of all credit reports will have errors of some type on them. You will want to remove all the incorrect information immediately, especially if you have a common name. It is not uncommon for someone else’s information to appear on your account

Have all incorrect information removed. For some people, this action alone could result in a 120 point jump if someone else’s negative information is on your account. Getting your credit reports to reflect on you specifically is the first step to fixing your credit score. There is a second part to this step, one that involves advice given by many credit repair “experts” who give the wrong advice (we’ll correct the myth here).

Many will give advice to challenge every negative item on your account. Unless you only have one or two black marks, do NOT do this! First of all, it will set off a red flag. If your requests get marked as frivolous, then not only will legitimate problem accounts not be removed, but they can prevent you from challenging in the future. This means if you have a negative account that hits the 7 year mark and should therefore be removed, but isn’t, you have no way to get that black mark removed even though by law that’s your right.

If there are one or two accounts you do question, do ask for evidence of these late charges. That’s the key. Don’t categorically deny that this is your debt, but ask for evidence. If the company doesn’t respond in a timely manner, the challenged mark is removed. But never challenge more than one or two accounts at one time unless there is an actual concern of identity theft.

Step #3: The Magic of 50%

One of the biggest factors of anybody’s credit score, and perhaps maybe the most underreported, is the “magic” of the 50% mark. A huge part of your credit score at any given time is amount of credit you’re actually using as opposed to your total credit available. So if you have $10,000 in total credit card limits, and are using $9,000 of that, then you’re using 90% of your credit, which is really bad.

That percentage is a huge factor in your credit score. Everything above 50% is considered poor (and gets worse the closer to your limit you get) while everything below 50% is considered good and improves your credit score. This is figured on BOTH an account by account basis, as well as total over all debt. So even if your overall debt is too high to quickly pay under 50%, you can still improve your credit score by paying enough off several small credit cards to knock them all below that seemingly magical 50% line.

Credit score wise, it’s better to pay $400 to three small credit cards and get them all below 50% than to pay $400 to a large credit card (say an $8,000 used out of 10k available). You then will get extra points on your credit score for those three small credit cards that are under the 50% line. Eventually you want to get all your debt under this line, and once you do the effect is immediately noticeable on your credit score.

Another way of accomplishing this if you don’t have a lot of money to ask for a higher credit limit from companies you have a good payment history with. If you’ve missed payments, they won’t agree, but if you have a good payment history, many will. You might owe $300 on a $500 credit card, but if your credit limit is bumped up to $800 then you’re already under 50%. Not only does this help your score on that card, but it adds to your total credit, meaning you’re filling up less of your total credit, as well.

Step #4: Not Falling for Myths and Using Common Sense

In the end, there is no trick for improving your credit score if you are going to keep charging and spending more and more. The other advice to keep in mind is to avoid these common credit score myths:

1. Closing an old credit card account helps you credit score. This is a myth. After paying off a credit card you want that account to stay open, especially for older cards since length of credit history is critical to your credit score. Pay off the card, but do not close the account.

2. A debt consolidation loan will help my credit score. Actually, in the beginning this will hurt your score not only because of the addition of a large new loan, but also because it indicates trouble with debt. In addition, many people will then use their credit cards, digging themselves into a hole yet again. Consolidation might help with paying off debt, but it does NOT improve your credit score the majority of the time.

3. Common sense: stop using credit cards. You can’t improve your credit score while constantly adding to your balance. It’s just not possible, and anyone saying otherwise is trying to scam you.

Follow these four steps, and you will be able to see a huge bounce in your credit score in a very short time, even up 120 points or more.

Lisa Phillips asked:


Millions of consumers have less than perfect credit and it can be frustrating. Credit has permeated our society and having low credit scores costs you money. Credit scores are the No. 1 determinant in a bank’s decision to approve or decline credit. You may be approved for credit even though your scores are low but you will undoubtedly pay higher interest rates. The following are tips to begin rebuilding your credit:

(1) Authorized Buyer or Piggyback Credit. Becoming an authorized buyer also known as piggyback credit can be an instant way to boost your credit score. If you know someone who has a good credit history and score and is willing to add you to their account, this can immediately raise your credit score. There are companies that provide authorized buyer accounts for a fee. The credit card company will report to your credit files as well as the card holders’. The downfall of becoming an authorized buyer is that if the person ever becomes delinquent, it will also reflect on your credit report. However, if this happens, you can always dispute the account and the credit bureaus will have to remove it because an authorized buyer is not financially responsible for the account.

(2) Retain Old Credit. Maintaining older credit gives you a longer credit history. This is important because credit history constitutes 15% of your overall credit score.

(3) Apply for Easy Credit. There are many companies that do not require strict credit

guidelines. These companies extend credit to consumers with little to no credit history and less than perfect credit. You may have to pay higher interests rates but if you pay on time and keep your balances to less than 30% of your available credit limit, you will build positive credit. Seek credit at your local appliance, furniture, jewelry and tire stores. In addition Radioshack, Fingerhut and Chevron Gas extend easy credit.

(4) Balance Transfer. Do not transfer all your balances to one low interest rate card. You may get many offers for the best credit cards with low and even zero percent interest rates, but if you transfer all of your balances to the one card then you run the risk of increasing your balance to limit ratio. A high balance to limit ratio lowers your credit scores. You should always maintain a balance less than thirty percent of your credit limit in order to have good scores. (Amount Owed is 30% of credit score)

(5) Decrease Your Credit Card Balance. Pay down your credit card and decrease your balance to thirty percent (30%) or less than your credit limit. Your credit score will increase. The great thing about this technique is that it works whether it is a $5000 limit credit card or a $500 limit credit card, your credit scores will instantly improve.

(6) Get a Credit Line Increase.

In the alternative, if you do not have the cash on hand to pay down your credit card account, request a credit line increase but don’t spend it! Many credit card issurers can increase your limit without running a credit report. Make sure you inquire before you request the credit line increase if you do not want to create inquiries.

(7) Get a Bank Loan Secured by a Savings Account. If you have at least $500 cash on hand obtain a savings account secured bank loan. Most banks and credit unions do not run credit reports when you apply for a secured loan. However, they do report these loans to the major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Bank loans rank high in credit scoring. But don’t stop at just one secured loan. Once you obtain the first secured loan, take those funds, go to another bank and repeat the process. Now you have two bank loans that will report to the credit bureaus. Make sure these loans are small enough that you can handle making at least two payments per secured loan before the actual due dates. When the banks report to the credit bureaus they will show these payments and you will have established an excellent payment history within (30) days of obtaining the loans.

(8) Get a Secured Credit Card. Secured credit is a good option for those who cannot qualify for regular credit. Not only will you have the benefits of a regular credit card but you will also get an opportunity down the line to convert that secured credit card into a regular one. The same rules apply with a secured card in that you must pay your credit card bill on time and you should keep your balances low. When seeking secured credit make sure the bank reports to all three major credit card agencies, Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

(9) Limit Hard inquiries. Hard inquiries can take up to five (5) points off your credit score. Applying for new credit will lower your credit score. Keep inquiries at a minimum. Additionally, any company that pulls your credit report without your authorization is in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act which allows only authorized inquiries to appear on your credit report. According to FCRA rules you are entitled to $1,000 for each unauthorized hard inquiry. (New Credit Applications is 10% of your credit score)

(10) Know the Information reported by Credit Card Companies. Make sure your credit card companies report your limit and balance. Some may only report your balance and not your credit limit. Lenders who engage in this practice may actually be causing your credit score to be lower. The scoring system will plug in your highest balance as your credit limit and if you are currently at a high balance this can be detrimental to your scores. Capital One was notorious for this practice; however, in August 2007 they changed their policy and will be reporting credit limits. This means many consumers who hold a Capital One credit card may see a boost in their credit scores.

(11) Pay Obligations by the Due Date. Pay your obligations by the due date. A late or missed payment can drop a good credit score by 100 points or more. It may not make sense but if you already have negative entries on your credit report adding more will not hurt you as much as if you don’t have any negative entries. Regardless, paying on time can raise your credit score. (Payment History is 35% of your credit score)

(12) Zero Balances may Hurt Your Credit Score. Strange but true. If you have many credit card accounts with zero balances your credit score may be lower. Credit scores can be raised by maintaining a small balance (at least $10) on your credit cards.

(13) Keep Balances to Thirty Percent (30%) of Credit Limit. Do not use over thirty percent (30%) of your available credit. Keep those balances low and your credit scores will rise. Definitely do not go over your credit limit. This hurts your credit score tremendously.

(14) Re-Aging to Improve Your Credit Scores. Re-Aging is a technique used by creditors to get rid of your past-due account. You are no longer delinquent and your account status changes to “current” which increases your credit score. Request Re-Aging from your creditors. Re-Aging is a quick and free method to raise your credit scores, it gives you a fresh start. Federal guidelines dictate how creditors can re-age accounts but essentially here is how it works:

• The borrower has to demonstrate renewed willingness and ability to pay the account on time.

• The account should be at least nine (9) months old.

• The borrower should have made at least three consecutive monthly minimum payments.

Liz Roberts asked:


In the simplest terms your credit score is your credit history calculated in figures. There are many methods which can be used to calculate your credit score but the most common method is the FICO. FICO was developed by the Fair Isaac Company and is the preferred method used by most lending companies. Your credit score determines whether a lender will approve your application or not or whether a lender will give you less rates on your payments or not.

Credit scores or FICO scores generally range form a low of 340 to a high of 850. Ideally, you should aim for a score of at least 700 or more. If you get a score of 600 and below, creditors will likely consider you as a high risk borrower.

Knowing how your credit score or your FICO score is calculated will help you become more aware of your spending and your payment habits. Let’s consider the break-down of categories used to sum up your credit score.

What comprises your credit score?

35% of your credit score depends on how good of a payer you are. If you make it a point to pay all your bills promptly, you should have no problem obtaining the complete 35% of your credit score. However, if you’re in the habit of delaying or skipping payments, or if you defaulted on some of your debts, your credit score will also be affected.

30% of your credit score is calculated based on the level of your debts. Do you always maximize the use of your credit limit? Were there instances that you’ve even exceeded your credit limit? If so, then you’ll likely get a low score on your credit utilization. Hence, borrowers are advised to keep spending below their credit limit. As much as possible, keep your balances at least 50% lower or even less of your credit limit

15% goes to the length of your credit history. How long has it been since you started your credit report? The longer your length of credit history is, the better your score will be. This is because, the more information your creditors can get out of your credit report, the better they can gauge you as a borrower. This is why it is very important to establish a good credit report as early as you possibly can. Also, this is the reason why you should always think twice before closing accounts that you’ve had for a long time.

10% of your credit score is based on inquiries. If you’re in the habit of submitting credit card applications just for the heck of it, your credit score can be affected. Also, whenever a creditor denies your application, it can also have an impact on your FICO score. Thus, before submitting any application, see to it that you really intend to get an approval out of it.

The other 10% of your credit score is based on mix of credit. If you have a credit card account, a car loan, a mortgage loan and various types of insurance policies, it will show your flexibility and dependability as a creditor. If you’ve been able to manage all these different types of accounts without any problems on your payments, then you’ll likely get a perfect score on this category.