Pay down the credit card, then the home equity loan Los Angeles Times, CA - Credit scoring formulas are more sensitive to big balances on cards, so paying those down can significantly improve your scores -- at a time when credit...
Improve Your Credit Score Forbes, NY - Dec 3, 2008 It is the all-important credit score that lenders use to assess what kind of a credit risk a borrower presents. The score, which falls within a range of 300 ...
$2 trillion in credit may be cut Columbus Dispatch, OH - For consumers, card cancellation or credit-line reductions could make bad times worse. "It has huge ramifications on your credit score," Arnold said. ...
How You Can Rebuild Your Wealth Wall Street Journal - Don't have time to improve your credit rating? Look into credit unions. These lenders are more inclined to look past your credit score to see whether other ...
How To Get Your Free Credit Report Forbes, NY - Dec 5, 2008 In some cases, however, it may be worth tracking your credit report if you're considering taking out a major loan and want to wait for your score to improve...
Financial planning for the masses Inquirer.net, Philippines - 4. Use remittance records to improve your credit score. Remittance records are now considered good indications of credit score or credit history. ...
Maybe It?s Time to Buy That First House New York Times, United States - Dec 5, 2008 You will also want to start now on any project to improve your credit score because it may take several months to get it above the 720 level that qualifies ...
Ways to improve your credit score Tulsa World, OK - Dec 2, 2008 By PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor Dear Action Line: We see so much about "credit scores" these days ? how do we improve our scores ? for getting ...
You can take steps to repair credit Baltimore Sun, United States - Dec 4, 2008 Now it takes a score of 720 or higher, he says. Paying bills on time and reducing card debt are ways to improve your score over time.
Live_Online: Taking Charge of Your Credit News10.net, CA - Dec 5, 2008 To improve your credit score, limit the number of open accounts, pay consistently on time, do not transfer balances frequently, keep balance significantly ...
Source: Google News
Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: credit + score + card Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/4/2008)
Canceling store card could hurt credit score DetNews.com, MI - Aug 3, 2008 Will it hurt my credit if I cancel the card immediately? My credit score is 769 right now. I'm getting ready to look into buying a house soon and don't want ...
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[PDF]Adverse Selection in the Credit Card Market - LM Ausubel - Manuscript, University of Maryland, 1999 - bsos.umd.edu ... bureau; the consumer's creditscore; the number of bank creditcards known to be
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Data Mining via Multiple Criteria Linear Programming: Applications in Credit Card Portfolio … Y Shi, Y Peng, W Xu, X Tang - International Journal of Information Technology and Decision …, 2002 - worldscinet.com ... have applied some of these techniques to conduct the creditcard portfolio management.
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Source: Google Scholar
Does canceling card improve credit score?
Dear Dr. Don,
I currently have a good credit rating (I believe it's in the low 700s), but I was curious if canceling one of my credit cards will help improve my rating. I have a credit limit of approximately $10,000 on this card, but I haven't used it in about two years. Will canceling it help, or does it not matter?
-- Joe Jumpstart
Dear Joe,
Fair Isaac & Company (FICO) recommends on its Web site, www.MyFICO.com, that canceling credit cards isn't a good way to improve your credit score, at least over the short term. The fact that you haven't used this credit line in two years demonstrates a level of responsibility toward using credit that reflects favorably on you, and the unused credit line keeps the ratio of outstanding balances/available credit low, one of the factors in having a high credit score.
What's the planned acquisition, loan or refinancing? Managing your credit score for the sake of having a better score is somewhat pointless unless you're planning on doing something with that score. Bragging rights in your golf foursome isn't a reason. If you've got a goal in sight and a higher credit score will help you reach that goal, then get busy on improving your score. Otherwise, leave things alone. A score in the low 700s is better than most. You're likely to be on the cusp of being an A credit if you're not already an A credit, so let it be.
Fair Isaac & Company offers a credit score simulator when you purchase a credit report and credit score on its Web site. It'll let you construct some what-if scenarios concerning actions you can take with your credit accounts and balances. It costs $12.95, but you get to use the simulator for a full month after the purchase of the credit score and report.
Bankrate also offers the FICO Score Estimator on its Web site that will give you a quick idea of how lenders are likely to rate your credit based on how you answer a few questions. There's no charge at all for using it.
