Credit Lines & Credit Bureaus.
I am simply amazed by the number of credit card offers and new solicitations that I receive each month. Checks are attached and ready for me to add the payee along with my signature. A lot has been written about personal debt in America and the consequences that come along with it. While impossible to create debt without first being offered credit, the easy availability of credit is the stimulus that feeds the addiction of over spending.
Many of us think of addiction in terms of substance abuse while never considering other possible forms of addiction. A synonym of the word addiction is dependence. How many of us today have become dependent on our credit lines to facilitate our emotional decisions when it comes to our purchases? I would be remiss if I didn’t speak to the ability to shop online with the use of our smart phones. Are there any limits to what can or cannot be purchased today online? And if that isn’t enough temptation, there are two cable channels that are devoted to sharing the daily gospel of shopping.
In addition to credit lines, another industry has risen that is convincing Americans of the need to monitoring their credit report – credit bureaus. The three primary credit bureau companies are:
- Equifax – equifax.com P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241. Ph. 1-800-685-1111
- Experian – experian.com P.O. Box 2104, Allen, TX 75013-0949. Ph. 1-888-397-3742
- TransUnion – transunion.com P.O. Box 1000. Chester, PA 19022. Ph. 1-800-916-8800
If you visit any of the three credit bureau websites, they are busy pitching FICO scores and the need for you to shell out $240 a year to monitor your credit reporting and scores. While you can go ahead and sign up for the twenty bucks a month based on some marketing narrative, I am not sure how that is going to help you improve your FICO score.
The most effective way to improve your credit score is for you to understand how the system works and to work the system to your advantage. The people with the highest credit scores are those who have always paid as agreed, kept their existing credit balances low in relation to the credit line limits, and in general do not have any real need for credit because they have cash. I am not suggesting that you ignore your credit score and who is reporting it. Personally, I annually pull my three credit bureau reports and review the reported information for accuracy, and I can do that for a lot less than $240 bucks.
One of the best places for you to begin to educate yourself on this subject is to go to the Federal Trade Commission’s website under Credit and Loans: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/credit-and-loans.
This is a great resource that can be trusted because the Federal Trade Commission is responsible for the enforcement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal statute to protect you, the consumer, from those who may be gaming the system.
