If you have no credit history, you more than likely will have trouble finding card issuers that are willing to offer you credit. Having an empty credit profile makes it difficult for creditors to determine how you handle and manage lines of credit so they will be leery about extending you a credit offer.
This is the plight of many consumers who don't have bad credit, but also don't have any credit. There are many options now for anyone whose credit history is sparse. Many issuers are currently catering to consumers who want to get a credit card with no credit.
Orchard Bank has various offers for consumers who have no credit or poor credit history. If you apply for a charge card using Orchard's secure online form, they will determine the best card offer for you according to your credit. Once your offer has been determined you can review the terms and submit to the offer or offers that you are preapproved for.
Keep in mind that Orchard Bank and other card issuers will sometimes extend a credit line with an annual fee for people with questionable credit backgrounds. These fees can start from $35.00 up to $150.00 or more and will be taken from your initial credit limit if you are approved. An annual fee may be unavoidable if you want to get a credit card with no credit, but a minimal annual fee can be a phenomenal exchange for a boost to your credit report. Be sure to read all the terms and conditions before applying for an offer to be sure of any fees that will be assessed.
About the author: Katina Blue is the owner of http://www.creditsider.com, a website devoted to assisting consumers with finding and applying for the best credit cards, and informing consumers about current credit trends and maintaining positive financial situations. She writes regularly on all areas of credit.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Katina_Blue
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Your Credit Score - It Is Important You Understand It
A persons credit score is one of the most important numbers they will ever deal with. A credit score is used by many different companies to determine the credit worthiness of a person. Almost every business a person deals with from utility companies to banks are interested in their credit score.
The credit score is based upon the things reported in the credit report. The higher the score, the better. A higher score means lower interest rates and an easier time getting lines of credit. A credit score is made up of the following information:
- 35% is based upon the persons payment history. It will be affected by making payments or not making payments.
- 30% is based upon outstanding debt. This is any debt that is yet to be paid.
- 15% is based upon the length of time the person has had an established credit history.
- 10% is based upon the inquires made into the account. This is the credit checks, basically, made for this person.
- 10% is based upon the different types of credit the person has.
A credit score is very important to understand. This score holds a lot of importance and should be a main priority. Credit is everything these days and having a bad credit score can mean difficulties even getting the simplest thing done, like getting a telephone turned on in your name.
Low credit scores can be costly.
A person with a low score often finds they are charged fees and high interest rates on everything. A higher score gives a person much more freedom and allows them to save their money to pay their debts.
If you have a low credit score then you need to work to build it up. You should not apply for credit, get new lines of credit, but instead pay off debts. Work to bring down your outstanding balances and pay off old accounts. It is also smart to keep older accounts and close out newer accounts.
Doing these things will help to bring your credit score up. If you are unable to figure out how to handle debt then you should use a financial expert to help you. They can make suggests and formulate a plan to help you fix your credit.
If your credit history does become very bad then your chances of obtaining credit will be slim. Lenders will see you as a very big lending risk and will either turn your down or make you pay very large interest rates. That said, more and more lenders are starting to relax their lending criteria in order to service the very sub prime market.
Credit scores can be confusing since the actual calculations are very tedious and almost never outright explained. All a person should be concerned with is keeping their credit reports in good shape. This in turn will ensure their credit score is good.
So you need to make sure that you keep up to date with your mortgage and secured loan payments, pay off your store and credit card bills on time, dont get into more debt than you can afford, do not make too many applications for credit and try not to let your bank accounts become overdrawn.
James Copper writes on all areas of finance and investment. He works for Any Loans who offer no credit check loans to UK residents.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Copper
The credit score is based upon the things reported in the credit report. The higher the score, the better. A higher score means lower interest rates and an easier time getting lines of credit. A credit score is made up of the following information:
- 35% is based upon the persons payment history. It will be affected by making payments or not making payments.
- 30% is based upon outstanding debt. This is any debt that is yet to be paid.
- 15% is based upon the length of time the person has had an established credit history.
- 10% is based upon the inquires made into the account. This is the credit checks, basically, made for this person.
- 10% is based upon the different types of credit the person has.
A credit score is very important to understand. This score holds a lot of importance and should be a main priority. Credit is everything these days and having a bad credit score can mean difficulties even getting the simplest thing done, like getting a telephone turned on in your name.
Low credit scores can be costly.
A person with a low score often finds they are charged fees and high interest rates on everything. A higher score gives a person much more freedom and allows them to save their money to pay their debts.
If you have a low credit score then you need to work to build it up. You should not apply for credit, get new lines of credit, but instead pay off debts. Work to bring down your outstanding balances and pay off old accounts. It is also smart to keep older accounts and close out newer accounts.
Doing these things will help to bring your credit score up. If you are unable to figure out how to handle debt then you should use a financial expert to help you. They can make suggests and formulate a plan to help you fix your credit.
If your credit history does become very bad then your chances of obtaining credit will be slim. Lenders will see you as a very big lending risk and will either turn your down or make you pay very large interest rates. That said, more and more lenders are starting to relax their lending criteria in order to service the very sub prime market.
Credit scores can be confusing since the actual calculations are very tedious and almost never outright explained. All a person should be concerned with is keeping their credit reports in good shape. This in turn will ensure their credit score is good.
So you need to make sure that you keep up to date with your mortgage and secured loan payments, pay off your store and credit card bills on time, dont get into more debt than you can afford, do not make too many applications for credit and try not to let your bank accounts become overdrawn.
James Copper writes on all areas of finance and investment. He works for Any Loans who offer no credit check loans to UK residents.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Copper
Check, Monitor & Maintain Your Credit Score
As a consumer, achieving and maintaining a good credit score is one of the most important actions that you can take. Getting a good credit score is difficult enough, but maintaining it can be even more difficult for many people. Part of this process is being able to monitor your credit score. If you can't tell from month to month if your credit score is going up or down, then how are you going to know if you need to work on maintaining your score or if everything is hunky-dory?
Even if you don't have a good credit score, and you've been denied credit, that's all the more reason to check your credit score, monitor what's going on, and figure out the best course of action in order to fix it. Many people have incorrect or outdated information on their credit report that could be easily fixed. Remember that nearly a quarter to one third of credit reports of errors of some kind on them, and these are often very easily fixed once you know about them. This is where the monitoring comes in.
Remember, even if you've had a bad credit history, bankruptcy is supposed to be removed from your record after ten years, and late or delinquent payments are also supposed to be removed after seven years. This means that even if you've had a bad past, after a certain time these should be removed. Often times credit reporters don't remove these blemishes, which is why you need to monitor your credit reports to make sure that you're not being penalized for past mistakes that should have been forgiven by now.
As a consumer you are entitled by law to one copy of your credit report for free every year, as well as a free report upon request after being denied a loan or line of credit. It doesn't take much time at all to study the report and see if it's accurate, or if there are errors that need to be addressed.
If there are no blatant red flags, like signs of identity theft, most experts recommend checking your credit score at least every quarter, if not monthly, to maintain your good credit score. Keeping a high score isn't too hard. You want to keep all credit cards under the 50% mark, and not use most of your available credit. These two actions alone will sky rocket your credit score. In addition, if you make all your payments on time and even pay a little bit extra, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
As long as you spend and use credit responsibly, the numbers will tend to take care of themselves. Keeping yourself from bad spending habits is the best thing you can do to maintain your score.
If you do find anything suspicious on your credit reports, contact the credit bureaus, the companies involved, and the police immediately. The sooner you catch identity theft and get the authorities helping you out, the quicker and easier it will be to repair the damage that was done and take the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Follow these tips, and you will find that checking, monitoring, and improving/maintaining your credit score can be far easier than you imagined.
Thomas Boston, Principal of 825credit.com is a personal finance expert and consumer credit advocate who specializes in responsible credit management and creation. He helps clients for free to reverse damage done by identity thieves plus late payments, chargeoffs and collection accounts. He can be reached online with comments, questions and other inquiries at tboston[at]825credit.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Boston
Even if you don't have a good credit score, and you've been denied credit, that's all the more reason to check your credit score, monitor what's going on, and figure out the best course of action in order to fix it. Many people have incorrect or outdated information on their credit report that could be easily fixed. Remember that nearly a quarter to one third of credit reports of errors of some kind on them, and these are often very easily fixed once you know about them. This is where the monitoring comes in.
Remember, even if you've had a bad credit history, bankruptcy is supposed to be removed from your record after ten years, and late or delinquent payments are also supposed to be removed after seven years. This means that even if you've had a bad past, after a certain time these should be removed. Often times credit reporters don't remove these blemishes, which is why you need to monitor your credit reports to make sure that you're not being penalized for past mistakes that should have been forgiven by now.
As a consumer you are entitled by law to one copy of your credit report for free every year, as well as a free report upon request after being denied a loan or line of credit. It doesn't take much time at all to study the report and see if it's accurate, or if there are errors that need to be addressed.
If there are no blatant red flags, like signs of identity theft, most experts recommend checking your credit score at least every quarter, if not monthly, to maintain your good credit score. Keeping a high score isn't too hard. You want to keep all credit cards under the 50% mark, and not use most of your available credit. These two actions alone will sky rocket your credit score. In addition, if you make all your payments on time and even pay a little bit extra, then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
As long as you spend and use credit responsibly, the numbers will tend to take care of themselves. Keeping yourself from bad spending habits is the best thing you can do to maintain your score.
If you do find anything suspicious on your credit reports, contact the credit bureaus, the companies involved, and the police immediately. The sooner you catch identity theft and get the authorities helping you out, the quicker and easier it will be to repair the damage that was done and take the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Follow these tips, and you will find that checking, monitoring, and improving/maintaining your credit score can be far easier than you imagined.
Thomas Boston, Principal of 825credit.com is a personal finance expert and consumer credit advocate who specializes in responsible credit management and creation. He helps clients for free to reverse damage done by identity thieves plus late payments, chargeoffs and collection accounts. He can be reached online with comments, questions and other inquiries at tboston[at]825credit.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Boston
Credit Repair Advice Tip Number 1: Get to know your Credit Score!
In order to give yourself credit repair advice, it is essential to understand your credit score and know where you stand.
Step 1 - Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
The best source is to see if you can get your lender to provide you a copy. If you know the lender, they should give you a copy if you ask...some may not provide that to you and if so you can obtain each of your reports from each one of the major three credit bureaus:
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
You are legally entitled through the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) to one free credit report per year from Annual Credit Report Request Service, a joint venture between the three major bureaus. They can be contacted at:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105283
Atlanta, GA 30348-5283
1–877–322–8228
Online at www.annualcreditreport.com
You may only get one report free per year from each of the bureaus—
any more than that will cost you. You may also purchase your reports from
independent site online such as www.myfico.com or contact the bureaus
directly using the information listed below:
● Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 or Online at www.equifax.com
P.O. Box 740341, Atlanta, GA 30374
● Experian: 1-888-397-3742 or Online at www.experian.com
P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013
● TransUnion: 1-800-888-4213 or Online at www.transunion.com
2 Baldwin Pl., P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 1902213
Step 1 - Get a Copy of Your Credit Report
Did you know that the 'free' credit report you get is not the same credit report
a lender gets?
The best source is to see if you can get your lender to provide you a copy. If you know the lender, they should give you a copy if you ask...some may not provide that to you and if so you can obtain each of your reports from each one of the major three credit bureaus:
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
You are legally entitled through the 2003 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) to one free credit report per year from Annual Credit Report Request Service, a joint venture between the three major bureaus. They can be contacted at:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105283
Atlanta, GA 30348-5283
1–877–322–8228
Online at www.annualcreditreport.com
You may only get one report free per year from each of the bureaus—
any more than that will cost you. You may also purchase your reports from
independent site online such as www.myfico.com or contact the bureaus
directly using the information listed below:
● Equifax: 1-800-685-1111 or Online at www.equifax.com
P.O. Box 740341, Atlanta, GA 30374
● Experian: 1-888-397-3742 or Online at www.experian.com
P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013
● TransUnion: 1-800-888-4213 or Online at www.transunion.com
2 Baldwin Pl., P.O. Box 1000, Chester, PA 1902213
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