Facts About Credit Scores

To people who are not familiar with the term credit score, they often assume that this is the score that we get in our credit cards for the number of purchases that we have made every year. But nothing is further from the truth. Credit scores are actually the grade that you get depending on how reliable a person is in paying their debts and credits.

Credit scores are determined by a lot of factors, how much your outstanding debts is, how regular do you pay for it, how much you spend and how much you earn. It will also be determined by your past credits and how were you as a borrower. These are all being gathered and recorded by credit bureaus and credit reference agencies like Equifax, TRansUnion and Experian.

So if you think, you are the only one who knows that you owe a credit card company a big amount, think again because they do keep records and what is more, all the credit transactions that we get are being filed for future reference of every credit and financial institution in the country.

Credit scores is important because it can mean being accepted or rejected for a loan. With a really bad credit score, you may not be able to get a house loan, a car loan, a school loan and even a credit card. In short, with a bad credit history, your days of borrowing money is history. As an added salt to the injury, it is not only credit card companies, lending companies and banks that do get information from the credit scores.

Even private companies and government agencies use this to background check a current employee or a potential employee. You see, a credit score will determine a person’s financial savvy and sense of responsibility. This will also show just how much a person is willing to face up to a problem instead of running away from it.

This is especially true with employees that are being hired or were hired to assume posts that deal with really sensitive financial issues or those who are directly in contact with money. A credit history and a credit score is important in determining if they will be able to handle the finances well.

Mobile phone companies and credit card companies also use credit scores to determine the clients that they should target. People who have good credit scores are often those who have the spending power. Thus, they are good people to offer mobile phone packages and credit card services.  

In securing a loan, credit scores are also used in determining the kind of loan that will fit your credit profile. People who have high credit score are given higher amounts in loan, lower interest and longer time frame in which to pay the loan.

In contrast, people who do not have a good credit score may be refused a loan or at the very least be given a small amount in loan, much higher interest and shorter time frame to pay the loan. This is because credit card companies and lender also want to protect their interest. Low credit scores are more riskier and therefore warrant higher interest rates.

Credit scores can be purchased through the internet via Equifax. They will send you your FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) score for a fee, $12.95.