Understanding Your Credit Profile

How creditors and financial institutions view their user base is rapidly changing. With the rise of online applicants, those who would seek to use the services of these organizations has rapidly expanded. Should you find yourself in this category, you may be unaware of all of the information that is available to you online regarding financial opportunities. Not only does this data cover potential loans and services, but it can also create a window into how these companies view you as an individual. Becoming aware of your financial presence online will keep you prepared for future loan and mortgage applications. It can also help you discover fraud and other illicit attempts on your sensitive information.

Credit Scores

As part of the lending process, every individual in the United States is given a score that represents their creditworthiness. Currently, three major institutions offer this type of evaluation. Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax are the bureaus which supply this metric to banks, credit unions, and other financial outlets. Given the varying standards and formulaic compositions, your credit score may differ from each of these three organizations. For some individuals, this can be a serious issue when seeking a loan and working on the assumption of one score, only to have the potential lending organization use a different result.

Thankfully, the rise of internet services makes keeping these scores in check much easier. With this added ease of inquisition, you can keep tabs on your score and be aware of any discrepancy. As an added bonus, online monitoring of your credit score can serve as one of the quicker and more efficient credit tools in alerting you to fraudulent uses and stolen identifies. A drastic change in your score is often a symptom of a breach in your financial security.

Credit Cards

Another common tool in the credit world is the traditional credit card. For individuals around the world, these plastic cards are used as a means of building their credit score by making purchases and adhering to repayment plans. Unfortunately, some are unable to maintain this schedule. In doing so, they can drastically alter their ability to acquire further lines of credit and larger loans. Like your credit score, you can also keep a watchful eye on your credit card through online services. Many credit card issuers, including banks and credit unions, offer secured overviews of your credit card on their websites. By monitoring these account summaries, you can be aware of fraudulent charges almost instantaneously. This will help you report such an incident as fast as possible, thus protecting your credit identity.

Loans and Mortgages

Loans and mortgages are often sought after by those who wish to fund a business, buy a house, or embark on any other large scale purchase. Considering the potential for loss and financial damages, lenders are often very strict on how they disburse these funds. Although this was not always the case, the recent financial turmoil has caused these organizations to tighten the parameters of an acceptable applicant. Using the online services of these companies will help you prepare for a loan and keep your finances on track when working toward the acceptance phase.

10 comments
  1. Credit score here is really important in order to get mortgage, apply for any loans and credit cards. If you don’t have credit history it can also affect your score. But once you established your history you make sure to maintain your score in possibly higher numbers.

  2. Maintaing good credit score is very important especially here in the states. Without good credit there’s no way we can loan a house nor rent.

  3. While credit, loan, mortgage or whatever we call it are becoming a big part in our lives especially those with family, it is important also that we know where we stand. That we do not exceed and live beyond our means. It is easy to receive something without pulling something out from our pocket (we often do not feel the pain of buying expensive stuff using CC) but when it’s payment time, that’s when we feel the pain! :). I say let’s use these “debt” opportunities wisely.

  4. When I was in the Philippines, I don’t really care about this stuff..but leaving here in the US, a good credit score is very important.

  5. I never have a credit while living in the Philippines. I always pay cash 🙂 Now that I am living in America, having a credit is really important and how you pay for it. Paying on time will help your get a credit score which help you apply for a loan someday. Thank you to my husband for teaching me. I now have credit cards and my husband is paying it 🙂

  6. Unfortunately the creditors relying on the credit score if you don’t owned credit cards they won’t lend you money or something! That’s the fact 🙁

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