Tag Archives: Score

Credit 101: Anatomy of a Credit Score

March 23, 2011   Daniel Murphy   No comments

While scrolling through the Credit Karma blog, I stumbled upon a credit score quiz. I’m happy to say that I only missed three out of ten questions, but I also realized that I, along with many other consumers, am still a credit newbie. So I’m going to start by brushing up on the basics.

Anatomy of a Credit Score

Your credit score is a three-digit number that has an effect on many areas of your financial life. It’s used by lenders to determine your creditworthiness, or the likelihood that you’ll pay your debts in a timely manner. Wheneve

Read the full post

  Tags: Credit Score, Score

Top 10 Reasons Why Your Credit Score Isn’t As High As It Could Be

March 17, 2011   Daniel Murphy   No comments

We all gripe about our credit problems, whether you have a 550 credit score and don’t know the best secured credit card to get, or you have a 750 and still can’t qualify for that coveted American Express card.

Even though our credit problems are different, there are a handful of shared reasons why many consumers just can’t seem to get their credit score to climb.

Here’s a quick look at our top 10 reasons why your credit score probably isn’t as high as it could be.

  1. Two steps forward, one step back. It takes credit to build credit, right? In applying for credit cards or loans to build credit, those hard inquiries can sure add up and knock some points off.

    2. Read the full post

  Tags: Credit Score, Score

FAKO credit score is nothing to care about but …

March 17, 2011   admin   No comments

What is FAKO? It is a derogatory name for all types of credit score algorithms out there other than FICO. The FAKO term stands for a fake and is widely used by credit gurus on virtually every credit forum. Basically, FAKO should be considered useless by almost everyone looking for a loan. It is useless in practically every case, except those very rare occasions when you deal with certain credit unions that do look at FAKO. That what but … in the title is for.

FICO, which stands for Fair Isaac Corporation and its algorithm used to calculate your credit risk and worthiness, is widely accepted as the true credit score. FICO used to offer real TransUnion, Equifax and Experian credit scores.

Read the full post

  Tags: Credit Score, Score

Closing credit card accounts hurts credit score

March 04, 2011   admin   No comments

If you even contemplate closing credit card accounts, you may want to stop right there. Closing an established credit card account with $0 balance hurts your credit score and does it in more than one way. I did this many times in the past – cut credit card in a few pieces, then call the bank and asked to close the account. Not anymore, today, I would simply put the credit card away and stop using it. But I want keep that account open in good standing and reported as such to the credit reporting agencies. Why? The image above clearly shows you that closing credit card affects credit score in two ways – from Amounts Owed which contributes 30% in to total FICO algorithm, and from Length of Credit History which contributes 15%.

Read the full post

  Tags: Card Accounts, Credit Card Accounts, Credit Score, Score

Closing credit card affects credit score or does it

December 16, 2010   admin   No comments

Does closing a credit card negatively affect credit score? Not really or rather the fact that you close credit card does not affect your FICO scores on itself, but here are two important points to know,

1. Closing a credit card will only lower FICO credit score if the debt utilization ratio will go up because of that. If you have three credit cards, carry significant balances on the two and want to close the third one, it will raise the utilization ratio. So if you want to cancel a credit card, see how it will affect this ratio. Once it jumps over 35%, you may see lower credit score.

2. Long-term and this is very long term, when you cancel a credit card in good standing with a $0 balance, it will generally fall of your credit reports after 10 to12 years.

Read the full post

  Tags: Credit Card, Credit Score, Score

Excellent Credit Score? 3 Biggest Mistakes To Avoid

October 29, 2010   Daniel Murphy   No comments

**Welcome to Do Today Thursdays here at Credit Karma Bootcamp: Your 31-Day Credit Health Plan. Every week, we’ll cover the 3 most useful moves to do now for your specific credit score range.**

The average Joe and Jane with excellent credit has a sky-high Credit Karma credit score of 720 or higher. Lenders and issuers treat these consumers as the cream of the crop—premium rates, access to best financing options and offers, approval on almost all credit cards, and extra leverage when negotiating terms.

Joe and Jane are the best kind of customers, so lenders and issuers will go extra lengths to get and keep their business. An

Read the full post

  Tags: Credit Score, Score
Page 1 of 212