Free Credit Score

Your credit score should be important to you. It is used by creditors, lenders, and other financial service companies to determine if they will work with you, what kind of products and services they will offer you, and what costs you pay.

A strong credit score demonstrates that you are a low-risk borrower. The weaker your credit score, the higher-risk borrower you are. With a high credit score, you will have more choices when looking for loans or credit and will be offered the best available terms and interest rates. With a low score, you will pay higher costs and get stuck with higher interest rates, if lenders and creditors are even willing to work with you.

In some cases, your credit score can be used to judge your suitability for a job, a security clearance, or an apartment.

Because your credit score impacts you in so many different ways, it makes good sense to work on building and maintaining a high credit score. Scores fluctuate from credit bureau to credit bureau and, within one credit bureau, over time. Because new information is regularly reported to the credit bureaus, it is important for you to check your credit report often. This way, you can keep an eye on your score and make sure that no false information appears on your credit report that would harm your credit score.

Online Credit Score

Your FICO score, the most commonly used credit scoring system, is based on a three digit number that ranges from 350-850. Any score below 500 is considered atrocious. Scores above 720 are considered excellent. Today, it is extremely easy to view your credit report and check your credit score online.

You can view your credit report at no cost, by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com  However, the free reports you can get there do NOT include a credit score. If you want to get a free credit score, you can do so by visiting. Please note that you will have to give a credit card number in order to obtain the free credit report. The firm may try to sell you a credit monitoring service, which may or may not be a good product for you, but as long as you cancel anything you sign up for within 7 or 14 days, you are not obligated to pay anything, Check with the firm before you sign up, to make sure you understand your obligations.

Raising Credit Score

Once you get your report, review it for accuracy. Take the time to dispute any incorrect information, as it can lower your score. If you find out that your credit score is not as strong as you want it to be, work to improve your credit score. No matter how bad your score is, it should not take you more than two years to build an excellent credit score, as long as you take the right steps.

Similarly, if you have a good credit score that does not mean that it will always remain good. Continue the behavior that built your strong score and make sure to review your credit report on a regular basis.