Friday, 26 August 2016

5 Ways To Get Better Credit

A number of different factors affect your credit score, the best thing to do to improve it is, well, everything you can. Even if you decrease your credit card debt by just 10%, you will likely see an improvement in your scores by the next month. Accounting outsourcingcompanies in India
 
1) Check your credit report for errors.
Depending on which study or article you read, 50­-80% of credit reports contain an error. A single error can lower your score anywhere from 5­50 points. Yikes.

I had a delinquent mark on my credit report because we made a late payment on an Old Navy credit card. We thought we had paid the balance in full and canceled the card, and the card issuer never mailed us a statement. I didn’t find out about an outstanding $47 charge until I opened the Credit Karma iPhone app one day.

Check your credit report for errors, and see that mistakes and inaccuracies are removed. You’ll be glad you did. Accounting outsourcingservices in Delhi

2) Tell your side of the story.
Let’s say you that you deserve the derogatory marks on your credit report. You lost your job, ran out of money, and stopped paying the minimum on your credit card.

Go ahead and write the creditor. Ask for a goodwill adjustment. Be honest. Cite the extenuating circumstances and explain that you were a decent customer before you lost your job. A goodwill adjustment will, in effect, erase those debts or any account sent to a collection agency, and the associated mark on your report.

If your debt is still outstanding, and you’re now in a position to pay it, write the creditor a letter and agree to pay your balance if the creditor will report the account as “paid as agreed.” Be sure to ask for any such agreements in writing.

3) Keep your oldest cards open.
  The first thing that some people do when they want to get a handle on their finances is consolidate and simplify. They start canceling accounts left and right: “See… we’re cleaning up the house. Aren’t we doing good?”

Age is an important factor in your credit score. Keeping old accounts open, especially if they don’t carry an annual fee, increases the average age of each account. When card issuers review my credit history, they see 100% in on­time payments (thanks to the technique above), stretching back to 2002. I seem very creditworthy.

4) Become an authorized user. 
If you’ve got crappy credit, then ask a relative or friend to add you as an authorize user on her account.

By hitching your wagon to a Clydesdale, you can improve your score faster. If your friend is worried about how your, ahem, previously bad habits will affect her balance and credit, then offer to put some safeguards in place. For example, maybe she never gives you the card. Or maybe the two of you write out an agreement that limits your activity on the card.

5) Increase your credit limit. 
Take a look at the credit cards you already have. Which one has the longest and “cleanest” history? Call the number on the back of the card. Get an account rep on the line. Ask for a credit line increase. Explain that you really appreciate the bank’s excellent products, and you’ve been a customer in good standing for X number of years. You have used credit responsibly, and you’d appreciate a credit line increase.
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By increasing your total available credit, you can decrease your credit utilization rate. Lowering your credit utilization will raise your score.

A word of caution: a credit line increase can add a new hard inquiry to your credit report.

You’ll have to ask the rep you get on the line. That being said, the long­term benefit to your credit utilization rate may outweigh a short­term dip in your credit score.

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