What do you call an annual health check-up for your credit? A credit report! If you have ever used a credit card in your name or borrowed a loan from a financial institution, you have credit history. Your credit history shows whether you can be trusted with borrowing money and paying it back.
Your credit history gets filed at three bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Whenever you apply for a new loan or credit card, the company that is offering the loan or credit card will check your credit with one, two, or all three bureaus. That is why you need to make sure your credit history is accurate. How do you check your credit history? Through a credit report!
Every twelve months, you are entitled to request your credit report at no charge from each bureau. Notice I said each bureau. You can request all three bureaus at the same time or you can view each report at different times in the year. If you are about to get a new loan, such as a mortgage, you may want to check all three before you apply. But if you are just doing a routine check-up, you could request one bureau first, the next one in four months, and the last one in another four months. It’s almost like getting three reports each year!
What are some of the things to check on your credit report?
- Payment History. Does the report show that you made payments late, even though you were on-time? Paying on-time will tell future lenders if you are dependable when paying back borrowed money.
- Available Credit. How high is your credit limit, and are the amounts of current balances listed properly? Contrary to popular belief, having too much credit, even if not being used, is a bad thing because it makes borrowing any more money a risk factor. From the lender’s perspective, there might come a day when you max out all your credit cards and then can’t pay them back.
- Accounts. Are all the accounts listed correctly? Have you closed unnecessary accounts that you no longer use? Nowadays with identity theft and stolen credit cards, it’s of utmost importance to review your credit report carefully. If anything appears incorrect, contact the credit reporting bureaus.
Credit reports sometimes get confused with credit scores. A credit score is generated from your credit history, but acts more like a quick rating. A credit report goes into greater detail about your credit activity. Compare it to a friend asking what score you got on a test versus going over the actual test questions and mark-ups. Although the credit score is not typically noted on your credit report, some credit card companies are now offering free access to credit score monitoring as an added benefit for cardholders.
Why the need for three credit bureaus instead of one? There are times when your information doesn’t get captured by one of the credit bureaus. Each bureau also weighs certain types of credit differently, so your credit score could alter slightly from one bureau to the next. Regardless, it’s a good way to check one against the other, instead of getting all of your information from one source.
Just as you visit the doctor for an annual check-up, do your finances a favor by getting a copy of your credit report. It’s free!
Homework: Request and review your credit report by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com. How would you rate your own creditworthiness?
Ace Academy 