Local

Unraveling the mystery behind your credit score

MIAMI VALLEY — “I don’t think everybody understands it. Especially our generation doesn’t understand it.”

Xenia resident Mamadou Seck said one late bill was a big setback for his credit score.

“That opened up my mind. You can’t get credit. You can’t get a house anything like that,” said Seck.

Increased credit score education, from online videos to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Credit Score Quiz are unraveling the mystery of credit scores for many Americans.

Nearly 57 percent have obtained their credit scores in the last year, up from 49 percent in 2014, according to a new study by the CFA and VantageScore Solutions, LLC.

But the survey also found that those who have not checked their scores don’t know as much about how the numbers are calculated.

There are two main factors to a good credit score, pay your bills on time every month and hit the credit usage sweet spot, according to Clark Howard, consumer expert and talk show hosts.

"Your overall use of credit needs to be below 30 percent. If you are above that it's going to eat up your credit score. The more you can get down the amount of available credit you are using the higher your score is going to go," said Howard. 
LOCAL: Springfield police seek public's help in deadly shooting outside Wagon Wheel bar

Seck said he’s learned from his late-payment mistake and now checks his score monthly.

“I got the initiative to see what do I need to do to get my credit back up,” said Seck.

Many credit card and money management apps now update credit scores for users every month.

You can also get your full credit report every year from the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion, at Annualcreditreport.com.

0
Comments on this article