Driving back from
the grocery store the other day, I spotted one of those
clear-up-your-credit-score-quick signs that dot the corners of major roads.
As
eye catching as the brightly colored signs are, of course, grabbing financial
advice off the street is one way to pay high fees for something you can find
for free. Or you might pay outlandish sums for services that you can do
yourself.
The
good news for consumers is that extra help regarding credit scores and credit
reports is now available from a variety of sources. Unfortunately, many
consumers still aren't sure where to look or they don't want to be bothered.
More
than half of consumers surveyed — 58% — didn't even know their credit score,
according to a report the American Bankers Association released last fall.
Many
times, consumers start caring about a score when a lender tells us that we
don't qualify for a low rate on a major loan because of a low score. Unlike
what signs on the road imply, there isn't a quick fix for boosting a credit
score. But educational information can offer a realistic plan of attack.
"Everybody
wants the 'What Next?' button," said Ian Cohen, CEO of Credit.com.
So Credit.com has new "personalized
action plans" to help consumers figure out what they can do to raise their
credit scores. One strategy? Start paying more than the minimum required
payment on credit cards to lead to lower balances and possibly raise the score.
Detroit-based Quizzle.com,
a provider of free credit reports and scores, offers free tools that used to be
part of a premium package. No purchase or credit card is required.
"We
provide credit comparison, credit trending, a score analysis, and a credit time
line that shows how your personal credit was built over time," said Todd
Albery, CEO of Quizzle.
In
January, Quizzle started a partnership with Equifax, Vantage Score andReasonCode.org.
Now, Quizzle offers a completely free credit report from Equifax and a Vantage
3.0 Credit Score.
"A
score alone does not give consumers a full understanding of their credit
health," Albery said. And that's where online advice can help.
Albery
compares seeing one's credit score to being in high school and finding out you
got a 76% on a geometry test. But what if you never saw what questions you got
wrong on the actual test? How would you find ways to improve?
Finding
out your credit score wasn't always as easy or simply as free as seeing a grade
on a test. Now, though, some consumers are finding access to free credit scores
via their credit card statements and online accounts, too.
Discover
rolled out free, three-digit FICO scores on monthly statements for its card
members after a test run last year. Barclays is offering free FICO scores to
its cardholders, too, via their online accounts.
The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is turning up the heat on card issuers to
release more credit score information.
The
push for free credit scores is leading some online outfits to boost their
offerings, as well.
Cohen,
of Credit.com, said the goal of the personal action plan is to help consumers solve
real problems by learning strategies in as few clicks as possible.
Cohen
walked me through the new program online and showed how a consumer can easily
slide gadgets on the computer screen to figure out what's driving down their
score. Is it their payment history? High debt? Mix of accounts?
"It's
enough to get people to act," Cohen said.
Sometimes,
the strategy could involve taking steps to pay down more credit card debt and
other debt to drive up the score.
Take
a consumer who owes $2,562 on their credit card bills. It might not seem like a
horrible amount of credit card debt. But if the credit limits on those cards is
around $6,000 all that debt is driving down the score. The consumer in this
example is using nearly 43% of their available credit — when a better score
could be reached if one used only 10% of available credit.
Paying
an extra $175 to $300 a month toward that credit card balance could drive up
some scores 20 points to 35 points soon.
Other
consumers could end up being warned that they don't want to apply for more
credit right now. They might want an on-the-spot discount in a store but they
could be driving up the cost of their overall borrowing on other loans because
they've applied for too much credit lately.
Driving
a credit score higher, of course, can lead to lower interest rates when one
does take out a loan and then push down the cost of borrowing over the long
run.
Credit.com
notes that even a so-so credit score can cost some consumers more than $103,000
in extra financing costs over a lifetime.
"The
data we pull on you is all yours. Here take it," Cohen said.
Opinion reader :
source of article :