Consumerist
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credit
The 8 Secret Credit Scores
Remember when AMEX lowered the credit limit of Kevin Johnson because he shopped at the wrong store? It finally showed the world that credit card companies rely on more than a FICO credit score to make decisions. More » -
credit scores
Take Your Score From 650 To 800 With The Credit Karma Report Card
Credit Karma recently launched the free Credit Report Card service that assigns letter grades to each component of your credit score. If you want to improve your credit score, try to bring up your performance in areas where you have low or failing grades. Not every component has the same bearing on your score, so underneath each section Credit Karma tells you how much weight it has. For those who look at their reports and scratch their head, the Credit Karma report card, which is drawn from your TransUnion report, makes understanding why your credit score is the way it is a snap. Full screen shot inside. More » -
employment inquiries
Why Credit History Employment Inquiries Matter
Last week, we covered a story in which a job seeker was denied a job because of his credit report.
Have you wondered why? More »
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profit goggles
Are You A Deadbeat? Suddenly You're Attractive To Card Companies Again
"Revolvers"—customers who keep a revolving balance on their credit cards—used to be the cash crop for credit card companies. But now more and more of them are turning into expensive charge-offs, and the new CARD act is going to make it harder to acquire those riskier customers anyway. As a result, card companies are beginning to look more closely at the customer who was most hated back in the credit-orgy years: the deadbeat. More » -
credit scores
Credit Scores: How Do They Make 'Em?
A three-digit number that creditors use to quickly evaluate whether to give someone a loan and how favorable the terms should be, the credit score remains something of a mystery to many. How is it figured out? What matters, and what doesn't matter? The exact scoring system is a proprietary secret of the Fair Issac corporation, but there are 5 general categories, each weighted differently, that determine where you sit on the range from 300-850. In easy-to-read outline form, let's take a closer look. More » -
credit
5 Things to Avoid Before Buying A Home
With low mortgage rates and a battered housing market, it's a ripe time to buy a home. Here are five credit score related things you should avoid doing before buying a home. More » -
credit cards
Your Credit Card Company Is Building A Psychological Profile Of You
The next time you apply for a credit card, your credit report and income will be only a part of the criteria used to determine your creditworthiness. For that matter, as long as you have the card, what you use it for will be noted and added to a growing set of data that makes up your psychological profile, which will then be referred to every time the bank deals with your or reevaluates your risk as a customer. More » -
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credit cards
New Credit Card Rules Won't Stop You From Making Bad Decisions
Barbara Kiviat in Time takes a look at the one aspect of credit card debt that no amount of government reform is going to fix: the human brain's tendency to fail miserably when it comes to making decisions about spending. More » -
debt
Got Debt So Bad It's Defaulted? 3 Ways To Deal
Getting into debt is easy. Winding up in default is easier yet; all you have to do is not pay your bills for several months! So how do you deal when the lender doesn't want to wait around for you any longer and has moved on to more drastic action? Here's three ways, only two of which are advisable. More » -
credit
Understanding Credit Utilization
With the recession, a lot of personal finance experts have started dispensing credit advice. They advise that you never cancel cards because it'll hurt your score. Do you know why? More » -
science says
Big Shocker: Students Are Abusing Credit Cards
Sallie Mae's 2009 study of credit card use shows that students just love binging on plastic. Kids these days have more than four cards on average, and most of them carry a balance pushing $3,000. Many don't tell their parents, and almost a fifth graduate with more than $7,000 of debt. This is how meltdowns start... More » -
credit
How Accurate Are Credit Score Estimators?
Did you try Bankrate's score estimator when it was featured on the Consumerist two years ago? I did and I wondered how accurate that 12-question quiz was. Answer? Not bad. More » -
bailouts
Chrysler Financial Accused Of Turning Down Government Loan To Avoid Executive Bonus Restrictions
The Washington Post has just published a story accusing executives at Chrysler Financial of turning down a $750 million government loan because they "didn't want to abide by new federal limits on pay," and instead opted for more expensive private sector financing, "adding to the burdens of the already fragile automaker and its financing company." Chrysler Financial denies the charge. More » -
credit
General Motors' Greatest Innovation? Not Cars, Credit
Sorry to disappoint all of you who think that the two-person Segway is the most innovative thing GM has produced in its long history — it seems that the company's most important new idea was consumer credit. More specifically, convincing a nation of thrifty debt-averse tightwads that taking on debt was socially acceptable. Yes, it's true. We weren't always a bunch of debt junkies. More » -
student loans
A Big-Ass List Of Student Loan Resources
It's a tough economic climate to be graduating from school — and maybe an even tougher one for those of you trying to get financial aid. We've put together a list of some financial aid and student lending resources to help make things easier. More »
2:05 PM on Mon Mar 30 2009
By Meg Marco
0 views, 41 commentsMost discussed QuantumRiff: One big tip, I wish someone had told me. If all your student loans are through the same company, more »
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credit
FICO Confirms: Reduced Credit Lines For Good Borrowers
A study from Fair Isaac confirms that even the best borrowers are seeing their credit lines slashed as banks move to boost profitability during the recession. 16% of Americans have seen their credit lines reduced by an average of $2,200, and of them, 11% had no late payments or negative marks on their credit report. More » -
debit cards
Why Do Lenders Want You To Use Your Debit Card Like A Credit Card?
A reader wants to know why Chase is pushing him so hard to use his debit card like a credit card when paying for things—they're promoting a contest for people who do this, and on every insert or blank space in the paperwork that accompanied his newest card, they encourage him to always select "credit" over "debit" at checkout. Why? More »
credit
There is apparently serious concern that the United States will eventually lose its AAA credit rating. [
New York, 3:31 PM
Sun Jul 5
6 posts in the last 24 hours
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