So Many Scores
Credit scores can be confusing. FICO, TrueCredit, PLUS, Beacon, and Empirica scores are all in daily use. Why are there so many scores? A nationally recognized credit repair expert explains the different scores and how they can impact your life.
FICO, the Score that Counts
There are many credit scores available, but the FICO score is the one that matters. FICO, by the way, is an acronym for Fair Isaac & Company, the creator of the scoring model. Virtually all lenders use FICO scores to make loan decisions. If you are in a credit repair program, any score you monitor is fine for measuring progress. But if you are planning to apply for a loan the FICO score is the one to watch.
FICO and Your Lender
When you apply for a loan, the lender orders your credit report from one (or more) of the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. Each credit bureau report comes with a FICO score. If you speak with your lender about your credit, they are likely to refer to each of your scores using the specific credit bureau name.
The Credit Bureau Illusion
Given the constant association of FICO scores with the three credit bureaus, you might […]
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Secured Credit Cards have many advantages for someone who does not have any credit, or someone with challenged credit. It is hard to do a lot of things without credit cards. In this article I will discuss why you need credit, and if you don’t have credit or your credit is challenged, how secure credit cards will benefit you.Establish good creditOne of the hardest challenges is to get a creditor to extend credit to someone that has no credit. There was a trick used for years, and that trick was having a family member ad you to there credit card as an authorized user. Recently the FICO® score model was changed because of the fraudulent use of selling authorized user accounts by credit repair companies. This motivated Fair Isaac to change there FICO® score model. So if you are added to a credit account as an authorized user, this can hurt your credit score. This loophole has been closed. The best way to get started in the credit building process or the credit rebuilding process is too get a secure credit card. Secure credit cards require a deposit into a designated account by the credit card company. This is the […]
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One of the most effective ways to build your personal credit is to add new, positive accounts to your credit report. When you add new accounts, your high credit limit (the total credit available to you) will be increased. This is a big turn-on for potential lenders; the “pre-approved” offers will start arriving in your mailbox. The goal, of course, is to earn better credit as reflected in a higher credit score.
But, as in many things in life, there’s a catch-22. In order to GET good credit, you usually must HAVE good credit. Ask anyone with a high credit rating, and they’ll tell you they are flooded with offers of credit cards with reasonable rates every single week. However, there are ways for those of us with less than stellar credit ratings to add new credit accounts to our files. In this article, we’ll briefly describe a few methods, some good, some questionable.
Method #1: Secured credit cards. This is a good but somewhat limited way to build credit. Secured credit cards are usually easy to get, in terms of approval. But, they require cash up front (the amount of the card) as a “secured” deposit. So your money is tied […]
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