How To Raise Your FICO Score
Posted in Finance on 03/31/2010 10:03 pm by
Jon Arnold asked:
Do you know what your FICO score is? Do you even know what a FICO score is or what it pertains to? Simply put, a FICO score is also known as your credit score, and your score is calculated and re-calculated on a regular basis. The score you are given is a number that reflects how well you pay your credit obligations and whether or not you pay them on time. In other words, it is used by lenders to determine your credit worthiness so they can determine if they wish to offer you a loan or approve your loan or credit application. It is also used by lenders to determine how attractive to make the interest rate that they will offer you. If you are determined to be a good credit risk and have a high FICO score, then you will typically qualify for the “preferred” interest rate, and perhaps even a higher credit line, since you have demonstrated over the years that you are responsible with your credit obligations.
Almost every lender or credit institution that can offer you a loan or a credit card or merchandise on some kind of monthly payment plan will check your FICO score or your credit score before deciding what they will offer you.
But there are two very important things that most consumers are not aware of, and they need to be fully aware of them because it can affect a huge number of different factors in your life. First, there are three main credit bureaus that maintain all your financial history data. These are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Some of your creditors will report to one of them, some to two of them, and a few perhaps even to all three of them. Do you see the problem this creates? That is that with all your past and present credit obligations and with your creditors reporting to different combinations of these credit bureaus, your FICO score at each credit bureau is very likely DIFFERENT, and often it is significantly different.
The other factor that consumers need to be aware of could almost be deduced from the information given above, but it is a sad true fact that various studies indicate that the majority of consumers have errors in their credit reports, which has an impact on their individual FICO scores. So how do these errors get corrected? The sad and unfortunate answer is that they do NOT get corrected, unless you take action to get it corrected yourself. There is nothing automatic about it whatsoever.
You need to understand that having the best FICO score or credit score possible should be a high priority in your life because it can have an effect on various things. For example, getting a new job or a promotion within many companies these days will depend on having a good FICO score, with the thought process being that if you cannot be responsible with your own credit, you would tend to be equally irresponsible with company assets and resources. If you are applying for financing on a new car, your FICO score plays a major role in the determination of the interest rate that will be offered to you, where the difference of just a couple of percentage points can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.
There are many ways to get your credit history data corrected at the credit bureaus, and since this can be a lengthy and time consuming process, it is not something you should delay. Visit our web site today to get information on how to find out what errors are in your credit report, and the proper way to ensure that your credit report reflects accurate and positive data so that your FICO score and credit score is as high as possible.
Darren
Do you know what your FICO score is? Do you even know what a FICO score is or what it pertains to? Simply put, a FICO score is also known as your credit score, and your score is calculated and re-calculated on a regular basis. The score you are given is a number that reflects how well you pay your credit obligations and whether or not you pay them on time. In other words, it is used by lenders to determine your credit worthiness so they can determine if they wish to offer you a loan or approve your loan or credit application. It is also used by lenders to determine how attractive to make the interest rate that they will offer you. If you are determined to be a good credit risk and have a high FICO score, then you will typically qualify for the “preferred” interest rate, and perhaps even a higher credit line, since you have demonstrated over the years that you are responsible with your credit obligations.
Almost every lender or credit institution that can offer you a loan or a credit card or merchandise on some kind of monthly payment plan will check your FICO score or your credit score before deciding what they will offer you.
But there are two very important things that most consumers are not aware of, and they need to be fully aware of them because it can affect a huge number of different factors in your life. First, there are three main credit bureaus that maintain all your financial history data. These are Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Some of your creditors will report to one of them, some to two of them, and a few perhaps even to all three of them. Do you see the problem this creates? That is that with all your past and present credit obligations and with your creditors reporting to different combinations of these credit bureaus, your FICO score at each credit bureau is very likely DIFFERENT, and often it is significantly different.
The other factor that consumers need to be aware of could almost be deduced from the information given above, but it is a sad true fact that various studies indicate that the majority of consumers have errors in their credit reports, which has an impact on their individual FICO scores. So how do these errors get corrected? The sad and unfortunate answer is that they do NOT get corrected, unless you take action to get it corrected yourself. There is nothing automatic about it whatsoever.
You need to understand that having the best FICO score or credit score possible should be a high priority in your life because it can have an effect on various things. For example, getting a new job or a promotion within many companies these days will depend on having a good FICO score, with the thought process being that if you cannot be responsible with your own credit, you would tend to be equally irresponsible with company assets and resources. If you are applying for financing on a new car, your FICO score plays a major role in the determination of the interest rate that will be offered to you, where the difference of just a couple of percentage points can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.
There are many ways to get your credit history data corrected at the credit bureaus, and since this can be a lengthy and time consuming process, it is not something you should delay. Visit our web site today to get information on how to find out what errors are in your credit report, and the proper way to ensure that your credit report reflects accurate and positive data so that your FICO score and credit score is as high as possible.
Darren
