Deciphering Your Credit Performance From A Free Credit Report

In a day and age when it is virtually impossible to purchase a car, rent an apartment, buy a home or even get insurance without having good credit, it is more important than ever to not only know what credit score you have but also to keep an eye on your credit report, in order to make sure someone else is not stealing your identity or using your profile. These days you can get a free credit report from a number of different websites.




Credit reports and credit reporting is important for anyone who wants to understand their credit and the financial ramifications it can have in a person's life. If you want to get the best credit card deals and credit card offers, then it is important to have a high score, which you can earn over time by making your payments on time and not getting yourself too far into debt. It is a good idea to pull a report on yourself at least once a year to see what your score is, to check for erroneous information that might have been reported and to check of suspicious activity that could be an indication of identity theft or credit card fraud.




When you request your free credit report to check your history and record, you'll discover that all of your basic and important personal information is listed, as well as all of the companies that have granted you any type of credit over the years. You will see a summary score, called the FICO score, and this grade is a way for companies to quickly get a snapshot of how credit-worthy you are.




On your "free of charge" report you will also see that there is detailed payment history for the various types of accounts you have opened, such as your mortgage, your major credit cards, your retailer credit cards, your student credit and loans, and other types of accounts that you make regular payments on. Typically, the report shows how long the account has been open, the number of on-time payments, the number of late or skipped payments, the balance, and other pertinent information regarding your accounts.




These details are helpful to any bank or financial institution that you go to for any kind of financing so that they can quickly and easily see what type of risk you might be. The level of risk that they consider you to be, based on your score and report, will often determine the interest rate that you are offered for credit cards, mortgages and auto loans. At the same time, most auto insurance companies review these scores and those with better scores will get a better insurance rate that those with low FICO scores.




Another reason why it is a good idea to keep a close watch on your score and profile by getting a free credit report regularly is that a low score can make it difficult when you go to rent an apartment or even apply for a new job. More and more businesses are relying on the scores to make decisions about their customers so you should treat your score as a financial asset and guard it with care.

Find out more tips on the free credit report at Mike Selvon resourceful site. We appreciate your feedback at our credit card transaction processing blog.

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