Credit Scores
 

Credit scores are confusing. We checked my wife's today as we check one a year generally, and her score is still low, but thing is she has nothing negative on her report at all.

All she has is a credit card with 2,000 limit and 0 balance (we use it each month to auto pay a few bills and pay it off so no balance.) She did have a high balance in 2013 so that might be the cause.

The other active loan is the car, all payments made on time. But its a young loan only 1 year old, so maybe that is a hit as well?

2 more items are student loans, paid in full, never late.

Inquiries there 1 from 2014, and 3 from 2012. (Car loan, and cell phone inquires.)

Trans Union has a summary of whats affecting the score, but their summary makes no sense since there are no credit cards carrying a balance.

"The balances on your retail accounts are too high"

► Bank Name Removed $0 03/24/2015 $226

The 0 before the date is the balance as of the date, and the $226 after the date was the payment we made in March to bring the balance to $0.

So is the retail account possibly the car loan? I'd think the car loan would be of benefit, but appears may hurt the score?

I know why my score is low, but her's isn't as clear cut.

Re: Credit Scores
 

In Canada, Equifax is the number 1 credit rating agency. Followed by Experian. Followed by Trans Union. Most financial institutions probably dont report to Trans Union, or if they do, it'll be to report negative stuff only.

So first things first, check your Equifax report, as it will likely have different information and a different score.

Second, it is probably worth carrying a bit of balance on your credit card. It allows Equifax (et al) to calculate that you have credit, use it, and pay it off. By carrying $0 all the time, it doesnt show them that you are paying it off. An "optimal balance" is in the 50% range.

Re: Credit Scores
 

Are you confusing Canada with the UK? I didn't think Experian operated in Canada, although it operates on a par with Equifax in the UK.

This link makes no mention of it: How to request your credit report

Re: Credit Scores
 

In Canada Equifax and Trans Union. My credit score is OK and have never carried a balance or any loans. Pay off what's due every month. Amount of credit available proportional to income, number of credit inquiries has more impact than a balance.

Re: Credit Scores
 

My mistake- Experian discontinued in Canada a few years ago.

FWIW, Amount of credit proportional to income does not effect your credit rating. It will effect how much you can borrow, but that is decided by the bank, not the credit rating agency.

Re: Credit Scores
 

Will check Equifax as well. Should be the same as to what is on the report, everything is on the Trans Union one, no loans or cards are missing.

Re: Credit Scores
 

I was always the low income earner in our family ............. yet my credit amount available was always higher than OH's.

More than once, it was higher than my annual salary, and after I took early retirement with only my reduced CPP as income, it was always higher than the amount that was going into my bank :rofl:


I'm very bad, I rarely check our credit rating .......... with no mortgage, no car loans, and paying off all credit cards every month, I just assume we are OK


I did have my wallet with CCs stolen a few years back, and checked 3 or 4 times with Equifax and Trans Union then.

I found there was quite a difference between my rating ......... with Equifax being much more accurate (in my opinion)

Re: Credit Scores
 

The two may not and likely will not be the same. Most organisations subscribe to one or the other. I recently got turned down for a MasterCard with a bank I have been with for well over 20 years and do a lot of business with. I got it in the end and only bothered because that is what Costco take. It was all over a $50 spat I have been having with Koodo who reported it to TransUnion, but failed to mention it was 'in dispute'. Cannot really be bothered to do anything about it, in 5 years it drops off the report anyway.

Re: Credit Scores
 

I find that false credit records can be quite profitable.

I got 5000 pounds (ie about $9500) out of Royal Bank of Scotland as a result of them dating a default incorrectly by just under 2 years (it was actually a debt incurred by my ex-wife, but that's another story...), damaging my creditworthiness and resulting in my being subject to higher interest rates than may otherwise have been the case.

It didn't even get to Court....I just wrote a few letters. No shark law firms involved at all either.

Re: Credit Scores
 

We checked Equifax as well, the same accounts on both, nothing listed under collections, and everything marked as on-time, nothing past due, but the score is 40 higher 700 vs 666 on trans union. Yes Trans union was actually 666.

700 is better, but still not great. Just can't figure out what it takes to get a better score, I guess with only 12 months for the car loan, it may just be too new?

Re: Credit Scores
 

Carry a small balance on your credit card.

Also, having different types of credit helps to improve your credit score. E.g. having a mobile phone plan, a credit card and a loan, is better than 3 loans, even if the monthly or overall amounts are the same.

Re: Credit Scores
 

We have a mobile but they don't report to credit agencies, well Virgin (part of bell) doesn't. I've never had one report unless you went into collections. Which companies report cell phones to credit report places?

Then a master card and car loan.

There is an inactive student loan still on there as it's not been long enough to drop off yet, but the entire loan was paid in full, and always on-time.

On the report it say's:

Paid in full as agreed.
No payment 30 days late.
No Payment 60 days late.
No Payment 90 days late.

In the comment section it says:
Student Loan, paid in full.

Months reviewed: 16

So another credit card would be beneficial?

Does have a loan that is paid off and inactive but still on the report bring the score down?

I see on Equifax 700 falls into the good range, where 666 on Trans Union is the fair range, so if most use Equifax it's not as bad as it first appeared.

Re: Credit Scores
 

Rogers/Fido report to credit agencies, or at least they did when I was with them.

700 is a decent enough score- you'd qualify for a mortgage etc easily enough. But yes, if you want to improve your score, you'll need to have and use more credit.

Conventional wisdom would suggest that people with no/little credit should present a better credit risk to banks, but the opposite is true. People with lots of credit accounts are typically viewed as a better risk, as the banks can see how good they are with repayment.

Re: Credit Scores
 

Another credit card would indeed be wise. Put all your purchases on it and pay it off. From what my husband told me, it helps to show you can manage credit, and even larger amounts of it. So if you have, say, a total of $10,000 of credit available across cards/loans/etc, don't use more than about $5-6000 of it at any time, and pay it off in full every month. We have 2-3 credit cards each (one is joint) that we do all our spending on and then pay off on each paycheque so it's always paid in full. (Not to mention then that it's worth it to get a card that has good perks - points or cash back, travel insurance, car rental insurance, etc) and then at least your purchases get you something back! :)

I'm sure you can get lots of recommendations for credit cards on the boards here. :) (And if you fancy the Amex Gold then I can send you a referral and we both get extra bonus points!)

Re: Credit Scores
 

If you want a really good look at your credit report, for free, and you have used Home Depot last year, then pop over here: https://homedepot.allclearid.com

(HD got breached, decided to offer people some kind of protection, so you get a years worth, well, likely less now, of premium credit stuff from Equifax)

I signed up for it, as a) I had used HD (no, they don't actually ask you provide proof, but who would be so dishonest to use it anyway ;) ), b) it was free, so why not.

It's rather good, allows me to request a full credit report, also seems like you can get unlimited reports over the free year, plus you can see most things online. Will report back your credit score too, which seems to change for who knows what reasons (mine went from mid 700's to just over 800, over a period of a few months for reasons I cannot fathom, as I've not spent much, if anything on a credit card)