Knowing your credit history - and what it says about you - is very important. In simple terms, your credit history is comprised of all the information contained in your credit reports. It's from these reports that your credit scores are derived, and it is these reports and their associated scores that lenders and other organizations use to determine your creditworthiness and risk level.
Your credit history consists of loans, mortgages, credit cards and other credit devices that have been issued in your name. It also includes your loan payment records such as how effective you are at making payments on time, whether you have a history of making late payments, how many times you have defaulted on your loan payments and whether you have ever declared bankruptcy. Essentially any actions regarding your credit can be contained in your credit history.
Your credit history appears in your credit report. This report compiles your credit history and may also contain items such as your job history, income and home address. It's also important to note that you have more than one credit report. There are three main credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Each one compiles their own credit information on you based on the data reported to them. In turn, credit scoring companies base their scores on the data contained in each of your credit agency files. Your credit score is an easy way for potential lenders to categorize you into a risk group. The higher your credit score, the lower risk group you will be in. When you apply for credit, the lender usually pulls your credit report and credit score. Based on this information, the lender decides whether or not to offer you a loan and how favorable the interest rates are that you can receive. Other organizations that may look at your credit report and score to gauge risk are insurance agents, potential employers and landlords. Keep in mind that the information on each credit report may be different. That's because each credit reporting agency is independent from one another, so they collect their own information. If one of these credit reporting agencies gets an erroneous piece of negative information, a score based on that agency's data may be much lower than the others. This can be a problem for your credit, because a lender does not necessarily look at every one of your credit reports and scores. If the score they pull is the one with that has been negatively impacted, you may lose a credit opportunity that may otherwise have been approved.
It goes without saying that a history of making payments on time and ensuring a high credit-to-debt ratio can help establish a strong credit history. But there are other things you can do as well. A great way to help protect your credit history is to review your latest triple-bureau credit report regularly throughout the year to ensure that it is accurate. As a FreeScoresAndMore customer, you can access your updated triple-bureau credit report every month, so you can stay up to date with your credit history. FreeScoresAndMore also provides daily triple-bureau credit monitoring, which alerts you of certain changes to your credit history, such as queries into your credit files and new accounts that open in your name. See details.
Should you ever have trouble understanding your credit history, or find an inaccuracy or potential issue, FreeScoresAndMore is there to help, with toll-free support and assistance to help you every step of the way.
Helping to monitor and protect your credit history with FreeScoresAndMore is quick and easy. Best of all, you can try all of FreeScoresAndMore's many benefits right now. Sign up today, and take control of your credit history.