Generating capital for your business is highly dependent on your personal credit score. Your Payment History makes up 35% of your entire personal credit score. The other key indicators that make up your credit score are Length of Credit History, New Credit, Types of Credit Used, and Amounts Owed. The percentage breakdown of each in relationship to your personal credit score is as follows:
Payment History 35%
Amounts Owed 30%
Length of Credit History 15%
New Credit 10%
Types of Credit 10%
Each of these areas has specific items associated with it to determine that percentage of your personal credit score. The 30% of your score associated with Amounts Owed is made up of: Amounts Owed
· Amount owing on accounts
· Amount owing on specific types of accounts
· Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
· Number of accounts with balances
· Proportion of credit lines used (proportion of balances to total credit limits on certain types of revolving accounts)
· Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing (proportion of balance to original loan amount on certain types of installment loans)
The formulas that create your score look at the averages of consumers and compare you to those. For example with the Amounts Owed section the typical consumer has access to $12,190 on all credit cards combined. More then half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30% of their total credit card limit. Just over 1 in 8 are using 80% of more of their credit card limit. About 48% of credit card holders carry a balance of less than $1,000. About 10% are far less conservative in their use of credit cards and have total card balances in excess of $10,000. When we look at the total of all credit obligations combined (except mortgage loans), 54% of consumers carry less than $5,000 of debt. This includes all credit cards, lines of credit, and loans-everything but mortgages. Nearly 30% carry more than $10,000 of non-mortgage-related debt as reported to the credit bureaus.
Based on your current situation you can see how your score may be higher or lower compared to the average statistics of the general consumer.
Length of Credit History that makes up 15% of your score is determined by:
· Time since accounts opened
· Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
· Time since account activity
The average consumer's oldest obligation is 13 years old, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time. In fact, we found that 1 out of 5 consumers who recently applied for credit, had credit histories of 20 years or longer. Only 1 in 20 consumers had credit histories shorter than 2 years.
New Credit that makes up 10% of your score is determined by:
· Number of recently opened accounts, and proportion of accounts that are recently opened, by type of account
· Number of recent credit inquiries
· Time since recent account opening(s), by type of account
· Time since credit inquiry(s)
· Re-establishment of positive credit history following past payment problems
An important indicator of new credit is inquiries. The number of times someone pulls your personal credit report. When someone applies for a loan or a new credit card account - in short, any time one applies for credit and a lender requests a copy of the credit report - this request is noted as an “inquiry” in the applicant's credit file. The average consumer has had only one inquiry on his or her accounts within the past year. Fewer than 7% had four or more inquiries resulting from a search for new credit.
Types of Credit Used makes up 10% of your score and is:
· Number of (presence, prevalence, and recent information on) various types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgage, consumer finance accounts, etc.) An average consumer has a total of 11 credit obligations on record at a credit bureau. These include credit cards (such as department store charge cards, gas cards, or bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Not included are savings and checking accounts (typically not reported to a credit bureau). Of these 11 credit obligations, 7 are likely to be credit cards and 4 are likely to be installment loans.
Depending on what side of the averages you fall on your score will be higher or lower. Obviously if the average consumer has 11 credit obligations and you have 50, you are likely to have a lower score then someone with 13 with everything else being the same on your credit files.
It is extremely important to manage your personal credit scores and know what your score is at all times. I recommend that you purchase a monitoring service from FairIssac the developer of the formula that tracks your score by going to: www.smallbusinessconsulting.com/fico I recommend it to everyone I know because of the real threat of identity theft and because of the importance of your score in everyday life.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Capital One Secured Credit Cards
Capital One secured credit cards have broken the mold when it comes to secured credit cards. Instead of ridiculous processing charges and annual fees, Capital One secured credit cards offer credit-bruised consumers with extremely reasonable interest rates and perks that other secured credit cards wouldn't ever think of offering.
The Interest Factor
You'd think that because secured credit cards are backed by money you deposit into an account, the interest rates would be reasonable. Unfortunately, many of the companies that offer secured credit cards could care less how much money you have guaranteeing your account -- they still charge an arm and a leg for interest.
Unlike many other secured credit cards, Capital One secured credit cards actually have very reasonable interest rates. Unlike many other secured credit cards, you won't pay a ridiculous interest rate of 20 percent or more when you have a Capital One secured credit card.
The Application Fee
It's not uncommon for companies offering secured credit cards to charge an application fee. Of course, you usually are only charged this fee if you're approved (and if the company is legitimate, they put the fee on the credit card they are issuing you). However, why pay an application fee for other secured credit cards when Capital One secured credit cards have no application fee attached?
The Credit Limit
When it comes to secured credit cards, the credit limit you're approved for really depends on the amount you deposit into your secured account.
While many secured credit cards offer the ability to get a limit for a thousand dollars or more, Capital One secured credit cards have an initial credit limit of $400. This is, however, for your own good. Capital One secured credit cards are intended to help you rebuild your credit. In order to do that, you need to take it one small step at a time.
So now that you know how much credit you can get with a Capital One secured credit card, you're probably wondering what the minimum deposit amount is to open one. Unlike most secured credit cards, Capital One secured credit cards don't require a few hundred dollars to open your account. In fact, you can deposit as little as $49 when opening your Capital One secured credit card.
Applying
Applying for Capital One secured credit cards is a little different than the other secured credit cards on the market.
Instead of applying for a secured card directly, you should try applying for their regular, unsecured credit card. Many people who think they won't qualify for an unsecured Capital One card actually do. If, however, you don't qualify for the unsecured, Capital One with offer you the secured credit card option.
If you're serious about getting a secured credit card and rebuilding your credit, you can't go wrong with Capital One. Due to their low interest rates, potential perks and lack of an application fee, Capital One secured credit cards are literally changing the way consumers feel about secured credit cards.
The Interest Factor
You'd think that because secured credit cards are backed by money you deposit into an account, the interest rates would be reasonable. Unfortunately, many of the companies that offer secured credit cards could care less how much money you have guaranteeing your account -- they still charge an arm and a leg for interest.
Unlike many other secured credit cards, Capital One secured credit cards actually have very reasonable interest rates. Unlike many other secured credit cards, you won't pay a ridiculous interest rate of 20 percent or more when you have a Capital One secured credit card.
The Application Fee
It's not uncommon for companies offering secured credit cards to charge an application fee. Of course, you usually are only charged this fee if you're approved (and if the company is legitimate, they put the fee on the credit card they are issuing you). However, why pay an application fee for other secured credit cards when Capital One secured credit cards have no application fee attached?
The Credit Limit
When it comes to secured credit cards, the credit limit you're approved for really depends on the amount you deposit into your secured account.
While many secured credit cards offer the ability to get a limit for a thousand dollars or more, Capital One secured credit cards have an initial credit limit of $400. This is, however, for your own good. Capital One secured credit cards are intended to help you rebuild your credit. In order to do that, you need to take it one small step at a time.
So now that you know how much credit you can get with a Capital One secured credit card, you're probably wondering what the minimum deposit amount is to open one. Unlike most secured credit cards, Capital One secured credit cards don't require a few hundred dollars to open your account. In fact, you can deposit as little as $49 when opening your Capital One secured credit card.
Applying
Applying for Capital One secured credit cards is a little different than the other secured credit cards on the market.
Instead of applying for a secured card directly, you should try applying for their regular, unsecured credit card. Many people who think they won't qualify for an unsecured Capital One card actually do. If, however, you don't qualify for the unsecured, Capital One with offer you the secured credit card option.
If you're serious about getting a secured credit card and rebuilding your credit, you can't go wrong with Capital One. Due to their low interest rates, potential perks and lack of an application fee, Capital One secured credit cards are literally changing the way consumers feel about secured credit cards.
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