Retail Store Cards and Your Credit Score

How many of you have ever been tempted to open a store credit card to save 10% on your purchase or get 12 months with no payments? Well, I hope you resisted! Did you know that every time you apply for credit it impacts your credit score and could very likely lower your credit score for the next twelve months. Even one retail card can affect your score in multiple ways!

1) When you fill out that new credit application, you are giving the store's credit card division permission to look at your credit reports. That means that there is an inquiry posted to your account by that retail store when they pull your report to evaluate your credit worthiness. Inquiries stay on your credit report for a year. Inquiries, even one, will negatively impact your score.

2) Adding a new credit card account effectively lowers the average age of all of your cards. This also lowers your credit score.

3) The low credit limit on most retail store revolving accounts also impacts your utilization of credit. If you have a $200 charge on that card and the limit they give you is only $250 you are at 80% utilization on that card. This could have a large negative impact if you are already running above the recommneded 35% utilization rate.

4) If you buy a large ticket item that allows you to make no payments for 12 months, your balance on that card remains static and is not seen as good credit management by creditors. It also increases your utilization ratio, both of which are harmful to your score.

5) If the store credit you receive is with a finance company that is seen as a 'bad' type of credit and decreases your credit score.

If you are already in a high risk category (FICO score under 650) you could be lowering your score even further by applying for a store card that 'saves' you 10% one time. That lower score will impact your ability to get some other type of credit that may be more critical than buying an item on sale. It is something to think about.

Linda Adams The Clean Credit Queen - About the Author:

Linda Adams is an innovative and seasoned facilitator & educator with more than 20 years experience designing and implementing programs for audiences of all ages. She is dedicated to helping others realize how important their credit is to every facet of their lives. You can find more credit education and information at http://www.CleanCreditQueen.com

Bad Credit Lending Tips

Having a bad credit score can really hinder a persons ability to get an extension of credit. Lenders rely heavily upon a persons credit rating to determine eligibility for a loan.

Bad credit lending is designed to help people rebuild their credit, get the money they need and be able to restore their credit rating so they can qualify for amore traditional loan in the future.

Having bad credit does not mean you can not borrow money. It may seem like it when you start out looking for lenders. The many nos you will hear can be discouraging. However, if you know where to look it can help turn a no into a yes.

Bad credit lenders understand that at some point you had to have a good credit rating because you were extended credit. They also understand that rebuilding your credit is something you have to do and they want to help. They assume the risk other lenders will not.

A person with a bad credit rating is considered a risk because they have a track record that shows they do not fulfill credit obligations. Lenders do not want to lose out on money so they would rather not lend to those with adverse credit. Bad credit lenders, however, assume that risk by charging high interest rates so they are making some profit from the start.

For a person to find a finance source it will take more than simply shopping around. They should try something different. Credit cards and bank loans are nearly impossible to get without some type of good credit.

They are not the best places to start. There are some credit cards designed for bad credit but they usually involve high fees and a very low credit limit to begin with. Unless a person is simply looking to build credit these are not a good choice.

Other places to try are web based lenders or sub prime lenders who specialize in helping people with bad credit. These are usually the best bet if a person needs a loan and also wants to build credit.

In recent years a number of these niche lenders have emerged as the number of people with an adverse credit history increases. Also high street lenders are now starting to relax their lending criteria in order to corner this profitable sub prime market.

A search online can produce many good possibilities. It is wise, however, to review all terms and conditions carefully. This includes reading all the paperwork and small print. Bad credit lending is not cheap but some lenders are really out to make money and not help at all.

Bad credit lending is out there, but it is costly. Once a person has damaged their credit it is going to take time and money to rebuild it. The god thing, though, is once a person starts establishing credit again they can begin to look at traditional lenders and take their bad credit loan and refinance to get rid of the extreme costs.

James Copper writes on all areas of finance and investment. He works for Any Loans who offer no credit check loans to UK residents.

Apply For Business Credit Card to Gain Business Success

If you were into business, you would probably be thinking of applying for a business credit card. You are pretty sure that there are lots of benefits you could get from it. Well, it is true. This type of credit card offers numerous advantages which include rewards and higher limits.

Besides these, you can have additional perks on gas rebates, airline miles, balance transfers, low interest rates, bonus points upon acquisition, greater savings on purchasing business supplies, and additional cards for free given to your employees.

Business credit cards will allow the user in keeping track of his or her expenses and will carry out a balance transfer if it is necessary when slow period's strikes. There are only few requirements set, however good credit results in excellent rating. Another advantage is that you could have the best out of it regarding your business expenditures and obtain something in the end.

But no matter how good the offers might be, always conduct a thorough investigation especially on APRs. Getting the lowest APR will probably help in saving bigger cash in the future. Make sure to compare one business credit card to another to find the best deals regarding its offers that will perfectly suit your needs. If your are going to expand your business that is going strong then consider a business credit card as an option. Numerous business cards are widely available. Just take your time in weighing all the advantages that it is providing because some business credit cards may just sound to be too good to be true.

In general, business credit cards have credit limits that are higher, lowest interest rates as possible, and several automatic benefits. It targets clients such as executives and business owners. Owners of small businesses should not worry because they could also take the advantages offered by the business credit card's benefits. They could extend their payments and cash flows. The purchasing power of business is slowly increased while establishing your business credit history.

If you manage your money wisely in business, making sure that all the expenses are well evaluated and planned, then success is not difficult to achieve. And picking the credit card that is right for you will help you in maintaining your business as a successful one. Remember that credit card companies will see to it that they advertised their business credit card well like offering 0% APRs on the introductory period, so it is your decision to choose the one which satisfies your needs being an owner of a certain business. The period usually lasts six to eighteen months or some will oblige you to pay for the annual fees upon using the card.

Business credit cards are used for making lots of purchases. If you get the lowest interest rate, it could save you a huge amount of money. But be cautious because even business credit cards having 0% introductory interest, later on it will turn out to have rates as high as 18% when the introductory period is over. Shop around and compare rates, besides, you should never make any mistakes because you are going to invest your money in it and protect your business.

Business credit cards could also be a fine investment for executives who do a lot of traveling. Flier miles are one advantage to avail of. Others include service discounts on mail courier, and store discounts on office supplies.

Business credit cards have the potential in saving you bigger money depending on the business you have.
Aaron Ballantyne

Aaron Ballantyne publishes online on a variety of topics and has a website where one can find offers for business credit cards.

Tips for Improving Your Credit Score

The first thing you need to do in order to improve your credit score is to find out what information the credit companies have in your account. Once you have all the information you can devise a plan on what to do to increase your score. There is no better place to find out the information from the credit companies than www.creditscoremonster.com.

There is no sure fire way to increase your score quickly but there are things that you can start doing immediately that will help in the long run. One of the main things that you need to do to increase your score is to start paying your bills on time, every time. Remember that some companies have grace periods but they vary and they may report a late payment even though it was only a day late. This is why it is critical to get your payments there on time.

Keeping your account balances low will also help increase your score. One trick that you can do is to move your balances around and spread the debit among all your credit cards. It does not help to have one card almost maxed out and several cards with no balance at all. Evening out your usage is beneficial when calculating your credit score. You are not spending less just spreading the debit out.

There are some common sense ways to improve your credit score. One for instance is to pay down your debt. This does not mean closing out accounts. You do not want to close your accounts, just pay them down. When the score is calculated it looks at how much available credit do you have compared to how much credit you are carrying. If you close accounts it reduces the amount of available credit to you so the same amount of debt effects the calculations differently.

Fix the errors you have found on your credit reports. Look for accounts that aren’t yours, late payments that are not late and debts that you have paid off that were not removed from your account. Some companies are quick to report deficiencies to the credit companies but take their time removing bad marks from your record. It is up to you to watch this and ensure that your information is kept up to date and clean. You do not need to hire a company to help remove bad items from your accounts. Credit Score Monster has links available to start the process of contesting items on your reports.

Remember the first thing you have to do in order to clean up your credit reports is to get that information in your hand. Without know what your scores are there really is no sense in trying to clean up your records. Purchase your three credit reports from Credit Score Monster to get you on your way of increasing your credit scores and ultimately saving you thousands of dollars on your next major purchase.

The Credit Monster is the owner of www.creditscoremonster.com which is one of the best resources for free credit score reports, free credit scores, secured credit cards, identity theft protection and a BLOG with no non-sense information about credit and how to raise your credit score. The Credit Monster works through credit waters and brings it to you in a simple to understand format.