March 25, 2009

• Action to Avoid Jeopardized FICO Score, Pt.4
    Go with Mainline Stuff, like VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover and FICO.

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  Types of credit used; 10%: Many of the smaller credit card lending institutions like private label cards (Sears, JC Penney's, etc.) and credit unions don't hold a major presence in the industry and don't get much involved with the major credit reporting bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax and Experian). As such, they don't have much potential to help credit card consumers with their FICO scores. It's fine to hold those cards but, in order to boost a FICO Score, it's also good to hold major credit cards associated with biggies like VISA, MasterCard, AMEX and Discover.

  Remember, the major credit bureaus put much emphasis on those who pay on time, have a strong history involving several credit cards over many years but don't go wild with too many new credit card applications in a short time. Too many too soon can trigger the warning that a person has become unstable with credit.

  Usually, we don't know where we stand with our credit card score until something bad happens. A better way is to download a free copy of our credit report every four months. Federal law provides that we each can request or download a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three major bureaus (TransUnion, Experian or Equifax). So, if you stagger your requests every four months apart, you can keep getting them non-stop. They can be downloaded from "AnnualCreditReport.com". You can also get them by phone at (877) 322-8228 and request a free written copy. Make sure to specify you're only after the freebee (they usually cost).

  FICO credit scores are not free, however and in fact, you can't even buy them anymore from TransUnion or Equifax. They will try and sell you on their own generic brands of scoring. You can buy you authentic FICO Score complete with an expert analysis directly from MyFico.com. The generics may be good but few people understand them and the industry still seems to be clinging to the age-tested FICO Scoring model.

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