Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Got Credit?

Getting a credit card is very important set for most adults, however not everyone knows what to look for especially if your credit is blemished. Look for APRs or the annual percentage rate this is the amount of interest that you will pay if you carry a balance. APRs are stated in yearly interest rates.

Because with multiple interest rates, for example you may think that you have a low interest rate of 8% and if you take out a cash advance your interest rate may jump to 19%. Sometimes you have a tired interest rate, meaning that your rate changes depending on the amount of your balance.

Penalty APRs are in effect when you miss a payment, some banks will penalize you if your payment arrives late by increasing the interest rate. For example if your payment is 10 days late your APR may go up from 12% to 16%. Introductory APRs are very common, you may receive an offer that sates a 5% APR for the first 6 months, after that it my rise to 18%.

If your credit card is lost or stolen and used without your authorization, you do not have to pay more than $50 of those charges. This is a protection provide by the Truth in Lending Act. You do not need credit card insurance to cover amounts over the initial $50.

Wilson Davalos

For more information visit http://applycardcredit.net
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What is the Average US Credit Score?

The credit score, also well known as a FICO score, is a statistical or numerical interpretation of the information portrayed through your credit file that basically provides a likely window to whether you would pay a loan back on time -- the higher your credit score, the higher your credibility in the loan market.

The report is written and generated by the credit bureaus on the basis of the information which they acquire from creditors and the companies from where you obtained credit in the past and other details composing mainly of your past payments, your credit period and the nature of credit that you availed and amounts still due. From this report a credit score is calculated which ranges from a minimum of 300 to a perfect score of 850. The median or average credit score for borrowers in the United States is 723.

This credit score acts as a ready reckoner and a handy mechanism to assess how much risk is involved by providing loans to a potential borrower. The higher the score of a likely debtor, the lesser is the risk posed to the lenders and a higher score also determines the likelihood of obtaining the best available deals and return rates.

The consumers who can manage to maintain their credit scores more than 700 are the ones who are usually charged relatively lower rate of returns, while those having credit scores rising further above 760 are charged the lowest prevalent market rates.

Those consumers having their credit scores below 600 normally have to pay relatively high loan rates. If you find it difficult to manage funds and your credit score dip alarmingly low and the credit score is really bad, you might find it difficult to secure loans from anywhere at all. Most creditors find the credit score of 620 to act as a break-even point.

The scores fluctuate from time to time, because your repayment determines your credit scores. The later your payment is made after a date due; it will affect your credit standings and will lower your credit score. Establishing or re-establishing a good repayment track record of settling the credit bills on scheduled time will help in strengthening your score.

Delayed payments of bills have a very negative impact on your score For instance, someone with an average credit rating of 700 plus can increase their score by as much as 20-25 points by payment of all the bills on the correct time in a given month.

Elevated debts can affect your credit score. Stretching out all of your credit cards to the maximum limits might lower your average score by as much as 70-80 points.

It is advisable that one should not open credit card account that they do not require. Even a closed credit account would still appear on your credit report and may be considered while evaluating your credit score. Every new subscription tends to reduce the average credit account age, which would eventually cut your score down further by a margin of 10-15 points.

Although it is better to have a credit account than none at all because generally, having credit cards and timely repayments in the same will increase your score. Someone who does not possess credit cards, for instance, has a tendency to be at a higher risk than anyone who has responsibly managed their credit cards.

To learn more about credit reports, credit repair, and how you can receive a free copy of your own credit score, come visit http://freeonlinecreditcheck.googlepages.com/, an excellent online credit resource with lots of valuable financial information.

Free Online Credit Check

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