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This section lists the accounts that you have with different lenders, retail stores, credit card companies and other businesses, including accounts on which you are listed as an authorized user (such as your spouse's credit card) and which will not be counted in your credit score. It includes the account numbers for each account, although these may be scrambled for security reasons. Sometimes, you'll find more than one account number for the same creditor. This could be because you moved or because the creditor assigned more than one account number to you. This isn't necessarily a cause for concern. |
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The identifying information section on your credit report is straightforward. It is compiled using the information you provide when you apply for credit. |
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According to the FTC, the FCRA-which went into effect in 1971-was designed to ensure that consumer reporting agencies, or CRAs, "furnish correct and complete information to businesses to use when evaluating your application." To help ensure the information is correct and complete, the Act ensures that consumers can check their own reports and make changes to them, if necessary. |
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How did all of this get started? In the very early days, when people bought things on credit at the general store, the store clerk wrote the purchase amount on a piece of paper that was then put into a "cuff." A cuff was a paper tube that merchants wore on their wrists. (This is also the origin of the term "buying on the arm"-another way to say buying on credit.) |
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We're not trying to give you guilt. We're simply pointing out the places where you may be able to save substantial money, simply by paying attention to a few "little details." One way you can save serious money is by improving your credit score, since it's directly related to how much you pay for credit. For instance, people with great credit scores (above 700) can pay tens of thousands of dollars less, over the life of a 30-year mortgage, than people with just okay credit scores. And they can be related to other seemingly unrelated things, too, like your ability to get a job or even get insurance. That's right. Insurance companies and even potential employers may check out your credit history to try and determine your level of personal stability. Whether you have good credit or lousy credit, the first step is to find out what your credit score is. Then take the steps we recommend in this book to improve that score. Your wallet will feel the difference. So will you. |
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Heavy consumer borrowing is a reality for many Americans. So, it's more important than ever for every consumer to be smart about his or her credit habits and ability to borrow. And the main way that lenders measure this ability: credit scores. Credit scores are the results of programs that lenders use, based on information that other lenders report to central information clearinghouses, to make decisions about how you're likely to pay. Credit scoring systems award people points for having credit, using it and making payments on time. The more points you have, the better your credit. Every time you use a credit card and pay the balance on time, your score goes up; every time you go over your credit limit and pay late, your score goes down. |
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While all consumer credit-based spending has been rising, the jump in home mortgage debt worries economists most. From 2001 to 2004, home mortgage debt increased 25 percent (after adjusting for inflation), according to the Senate's Joint Economic Committee (JEC). |
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What is an unsecured personal loan? Well put quite simply, it’s whatever you want it to be, a personal loan can be used for anything you want. Once you’ve negotiated the murky waters of choosing the best deal for you, you can spend the money on whatever you chose. The most common reasons for taking out a personal loan are home improvements, car purchases or debt consolidation, but people can and do take out personal loans for almost anything. Lloyds TSB released information on some of the more unusual reasons for a personal loan in March and these included a suit of armour, a dowry payment and a camel! |
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More seriously however, an unsecured personal loan offers consumers a great deal of flexibility and not only in what they spend the money on. Since it's not secured on your property both homeowners and tenants are eligible and unsecured loans can be arranged more speedily than a secured loan where you may have to wait to have your collateral approved. Personal loans are agreed at a set rate of interest, for a set period and a set amount. This means that there is no temptation to borrow more, as with a credit card, and you can budget effectively to manage the repayments. |
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The loan market is expanding rapidly and nowadays it's not only banks and building societies that offer personal loans. Supermarkets, the Post Office and Internet Finance companies all over competitive loans in addition to the more traditional high street banks and building societies. Most loan companies will offer their services via call centres and the Internet as well as in person so researching who has the best deal for you couldn't be more convenient, although with so many different companies competing there's a lot of comparison shopping to do! |
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