Bank finance articles and tips

Whether a person's credit is good or bad, monitoring one's credit rating is something very important that people should consider doing on a regular basis. There are many thing that can positively or negatively affect a person's credit rating and it is important to keep track of where a person's credit score falls. Credit is essential in our society. A person needs credit to purchase vehicles, to purchase homes, to get personal loans, credit cards, and more and more often, even apply for jobs.

Not knowing what's on a credit report can be dangerous. Running a credit report shows a person a few basic things. Most importantly, there is a credit score. This score is a reflection of how banks look at a person as a debtor. The higher the number, the lower the interest rate a person can get. Also, a person needs to pay attention what's on a credit score, and to make sure that the companies they deal with (credit card companies, loan companies, etc) are accurately reporting information. Next, a credit report can show a person recent inquiries, it will show them who has checked their credit lately.

All of these things need to be monitored because even if a person is diligent in maintaining a good credit rating, a person can potentially have their identity stolen and not even realize it until it is too late. Monitoring revolving accounts is one way to do this. If a person sees an account he or she is not familiar with, it should be disputed immediately as their information may be compromised. In addition, a person should watch for credit inquiries they do not recognize, as these can be indicators someone is fraudulently using a person's information to open accounts.

When watching for credit inquiries, there are two types. There are 'soft' inquiries, which do not affect one's credit rating. Soft inquiries can be done by employers (when given permission), lenders, credit card companies, insurance companies, and a variety of other companies but these are just inquiries preemptively checking a person's credit. Then, there are 'hard' inquiries, which are inquiries when a person gives a creditor permission to check his or her credit score with intent to apply for credit. Unauthorized hard inquiries can be signs that one's credit information could be in jeopardy.

Keeping tabs on one's credit is a great way to watch for identity theft as well as make sure everything on one's credit report is accurate. It is important to routinely check one's credit, as it is easier to fix a problem in advance than to apply for an important loan for something like a car or house, only to discover a problem at that point in time.

To learn more about checking your credit report please visit this link!

By Bobby Worden