Jun
25
Does It Matter Whether You Have Good or Bad Credit?
June 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This is a very hot topic of discussion in the world of credit cards. It starts with what leads to a good or a bad credit and goes on to talk about the importance of good/bad credit.
Have you been defaulting on your credit card payments thinking that it doesn’t matter much? Well you haven’t been doing well to start with. Besides the late fees and the interest charges, there is something else which the credit card companies keep track of and that is Credit Rating. Though a bad rating looks harmless in the first instance, it can actually get you into difficult situations. These credit ratings are consolidated at credit bureaus and are available on request.
This is the meter by which every financial institution gauges an individual’s credit worthiness before qualifying them as eligible for credit. A bad credit rating can lead to rejection of car loan or a home mortgage application whereas a good credit rating can not only expedite the process but also get you a good deal and give you more bargaining power, after all the financial institutions too want to transact with the least risky people. In fact, credit cards are a good and easy way of establish your credit worthiness in the market and aid you in various monetary transactions. A good credit rating can help you get a leased accommodation on a preference basis as compared to those who have no or a bad credit rating.
What’s more, sometimes a good credit rating is treated as a measure of how responsible a person you are and used by employers as an input to deciding the right candidate for a job. So though a good credit rating might not improve your chances of getting a good job, a bad one can surely scale down your chances. You can’t possibly get another credit card if you don’t have a good credit rating.
Having established the fact that getting a good credit rating is not good to have but must to have, let’s now check the leading factors that give you a bad credit rating:
1. Regularly (more than once or twice) missing the due date of monthly installment payment for a loan or home mortgage.
2. Altogether non-payment of borrowed money.
3. Applying for too many credit cards at once. If you haven’t been taking care of your credit ratings till now, it’s about time that you started giving it its due.
If you are not sure if you have already damaged your credit rating or not, you can get a credit report from the credit bureau in your country and check your current rating for yourselves (e.g. three major US credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). If you find that your credit report has errors you can contest the same and get it corrected. If your credit rating is spoilt due to negligence on your part, you can still take measures to improve it. Though it can’t happen overnight, you can surely improve your credit rating over a period of time. You might also seek professional help if you don’t feel sure about how to deal with a particular situation.
Rudy Hadisentosa: CCN.com is a free online credit cards review
and application website. We offer credit cards selection from
visa,master cards, discover, american express and many others. We have quite some categories and hundreds of credit cards selection to fit your need. Apply for a credit card at CCN.com.
Tags: credit repair, credit cards
Popularity: 4%
Jun
24
Getting It Even With A Bad Credit Rating
June 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment
Yes, you can get a credit card even if you have a bad credit rating. So if you have been refraining from applying for a credit card because you have a bad credit rating, you can take a sigh of relief. However, this does not demean the importance of a good credit rating. In fact this could be your opportunity to improve your credit rating. Only a good credit rating can make your loan or mortgage application sail through. Let’s check what kind of credit cards are available to people with bad credit rating.
Secured credit cards or debit cards are the ones which are available to all and sundry irrespective of your credit rating. Looks a bit surprising, doesn’t it? Not really, if you understand the concept behind secured credit cards (or more appropriately ‘debit cards’).
Secured credit cards are plastic representatives of the cash balance in your account. So, to get a secured credit card, you will need to open a savings account with company who is offering the credit card to you. This acts as a security for that company. This is the main difference between secured and unsecured credit cards - you need a savings account for a secured credit card whereas unsecured credit cards don’t require any such arrangement as a savings account. The other difference is the interest rates and fees. These are generally higher for secured card as compared to an unsecured one.
The limit or the amount you can spend using a secured credit card is a percentage of the balance in your savings account. This generally ranges from 50 to 100 percent. As there is no dearth of companies offering secured credit cards, you should research well before zeroing-in on the best deal. It goes without saying that reading the fine print is important as well. If not all, you must at least read the bits which relate to fees and charges etc. Generally, the bank will pay the usual interest on the balance in your account. However, you might as well check that too.
Also, you need to be careful that you don’t become a target of fraudsters who use deceptive advertising techniques to lure customers. Though the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been strict in tracking and taking action against such fraud companies, it’s good to be on guard against such deceptions. These fraud companies advertise everywhere and generally offer too-good-to-be-true deals. Some of the tricks used by them include things like - asking to call a 900 number (without mentioning the call charges which generally run from $2 to $50), not revealing information on fees etc, not revealing the card type itself or just hiding information which might be relevant to you in your decision making. It’s outrageous (in fact almost funny) to know that some companies even come up with offers of cleaning up your credit history and some un-informed people do fall for such offers. It’s an established fact that no one can clean-up your credit history other than you yourself. Also, this is not something which can happen overnight. You need to make payments in time and take other measures in order to get a good credit rating.
So you just need to be a bit cautious before you start on your credit repair journey with a secured credit card. However, it’s not that difficult. On an ending note, just ensure that the company issuing the secured credit card reports transactions to the credit bureau otherwise your credit rating will remain unchanged even if you are good with the new credit card.
About the Author
Rudy Hadisentosa: CCN.com is a free online credit cards review
and application website. We offer credit cards selection from visa,master cards, discover, american express and many others. We have quite some categories and hundreds of credit cards selection to fit your need. Apply for a credit card at CCN.com.
Tags: credit repair, debt
Popularity: 4%
Jun
23
Bad Credit Debt
June 23, 2007 | Leave a Comment
In today’s world, there are a lot of things that its very difficult to live without. One of them, is credit. Can you imagine trying to save up for a car until you had enough cash to just pay for it outright? Do you think you would be able to pay for college tuition and study at the same time? Who would ever own their own home? A life without access to credit when you need it will be severely limited in any number of ways. Everyone, at some time, will be looking for a loan.
If you apply for a loan from a commercial lender, they will do a credit check. It doesn’t matter what form the credit takes, it could be a credit or store card, a mortgage, auto finance or a loan to start up your own business. In all of these situations, whether or not you are approved will depend mainly on your credit score. Applying for a loan is not the only time your credit score will be used. Also if you apply for insurance, to rent or lease a home, or even when applying for a job, in all of these situations, your credit rating will be used.
What is your credit score?
Your credit score is a rating system used by financial institutions to assess the risk of giving you credit. It will be based on information such as your address, salary, how much debt you currently have, how well you meet your repayments, whether or not you’ve ever been made bankrupt. All of this information will be processed and used to give you a specific score. Lenders will then set their interest rates at higher levels for people with lower scores, and decide on a cut off point, where people with a lower score will be denied credit.
You have a right to know the reasons why you have been denied credit. If you have been denied credit because of information in your credit reference, then you can get a free copy of the report. You can also get a free copy of your report once a year from each of the three national credit reporting companies.
Also if there is an error in your report you can notify the reporting company of this and they have a duty to amend your report and make sure it is accurate.
Your credit report is used for many important decisions, so you should make sure at least annually, that it is accurate.
Joseph Kenny is the webmaster of the loan information sites http://www.selectloans.co.uk/ and also http://www.ukpersonalloanstore.co.uk At the Personal Loan Store you can find all the different loan types explained.
Tags: credit cards, credit
Popularity: 5%
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