Personal Finance: Understanding 3 Credit Scores

Personal Finance: Understanding 3 Credit Scores - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Many people worry or wonder about their credit scores and actually they hear that there are three different credit scores. And one of the reasons that there are three different credit scores is there are actually three credit reporting agencies, that keep track of how you use your credit card, and they may have a slightly different history because they may get their information in slightly different ways. But the company that provides those credit scores is a company called Fair Isaac Company. That company is basically a very reliable source of credit cards and what they do is they take the credit reports from the three different credit reporting agencies, Experion, Equifax, and TransUnion, and then they create a score based on the algorithm they created. So, what really is depended on your credit score is which lender or mortgage company that you use. The mortgage company selects the credit reporting agency which then determines your score and those scores could vary because the history may be a little bit different. It is not so important maybe to know what your credit score is but how to maintain or improve that credit score, because that is probably the biggest thing that you have control over. And some of the biggest impacts on your credit score are your credit payment history. So, do not pay late, that can be a big issue, because that is the biggest impact. Also look at your credit card utilization. You want to make sure that you are utilizing less than 50% of your credit limit. Actually ideally, it should be less than 30%. Next, look at having a credit history. If you do not have any credit history, then it is very hard to come up with a score. So, using your credit card is good as long as you pay it off, and so you want to use it at least once every six months, if you do not have any other credit. The other thing to look at, is the types of credit that you have. If you have installment loans, as well as one or two credit cards, that is better, because then it looks like you have a regular steady payment stream. In addition, do not be applying for a lot of credit cards or asking for people to check your credit score because that also does not look good, because it looks like you are seeking to get a lot of credit.