In this era of an ever worsening economy, it’s now more vital than it’s ever been to maintain a good grip on your credit score rating. If your score isn’t currently as high as you would like, then you need to start doing something about it right away. Those who have attempted to improve their credit score on their own know how frustrating, time consuming and downright difficult of a process it is. Not everyone is aware of the fact that there are three separate credit reporting agencies, and their credit score and other information about you will often vary. The agencies are: Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
The economy is not only affecting consumers, but lenders as well. Therefore, they are becoming more strict in what they require before they will make a loan, or offer the best rates. It’s only logical that keeping your credit score as high as possible will only help you in the long run. When people talk about a crdit score, they are usually referring to the FICO method of scoring. However, each agency has their own version of it, as follows:
* Equifax calls it a Beacon score
* Experian refers to theirs as the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk model
* TransUnion refers to their versiom as an Empirica score
While each of these agencies has a different name for it, they all amount to the same thing: an objective number that attempts to rank you as a borrower.
While they may all use the same basic principle for calculating their scores, each agency will probably have a somewhat different score for the same person, even though all things should be equal. There are two main reasons why the numbers differ. One, not all places that you deal with report to all of the credit reporting agencies. This means some of them will have different information on which they base your creditworthiness. Two, the way each agency calculates their scores varies slightly.
So, why not just use the agency that gives you the highest score? Well, it’s not that simple. When it comes to larger loans, lenders will get all three of your credit scores and then average them. Even though they will average the three scores, you should be aware that one of the agencies could bring your score much lower if it’s missing something critical, or has other incorrect information.
Now that you understand the importance of your credit score, you probably want to know how to find out what it is. If you’d like your credit report and Beacon score, you can get it directly from the Equifax website. Then visit the TransUnion and Experian to get your scores and reports from them. Also, according to federal law, you’re entitled to get a free copy of your report from each agency by going to http://www.annualcreditreport.com. It’s a good idea to take advantage of this so you know what your reports say. If you find any inaccuracies, be sure to get them changed.
Your financial destiny is in your hands. Take the first steps by finding out your Beacon score, getting your credit reports, correcting any mistakes and doing what you can to improve your overall credit score.