Your credit score can affect many aspects of your life—from getting a loan to getting a job or getting a house. Good credit is necessary for sound finances and many major purchases. But there are no quick fixes or shortcuts to building good credit. You must start by establishing credit, then embrace responsible credit habits... Read More
Credit cards are easy to come by and even easier to use. If you let your spending get out of control or take on too many loans, you could face big money troubles. On the other hand, you want to spend enough to improve your credit and keep it in a good range. Here are... Read More
With interest rates steadily climbing since after the recession of 2007, it’s important to be aware of what is a good interest rate when you’re planning on financing, whether it’s for a car, a home or your education. Take a closer look at what’s happening with interest rates in 2019 below and how you can... Read More
Credit cards, interest rates, loans, even where you live—these all depend on your credit score. If you have a good credit score, you’re more likely to get better financial offers. But if you have a low or nonexistent score, the chances of getting prime financial offers are pretty slim. If you have low or nonexistent... Read More
Making payments late or missing payments completely spells bad news for your credit rating. When you miss too many payments, your creditor may charge off the debt. When your debt is charged off as a bad debt, don’t fool yourself into thinking it goes away. A charged off debt can lead to harassing phone calls... Read More
Does Getting Rejected Affect Credit Score? Applying for credit takes at least a bit of work—you may need to gather income documents or fill out a paper or online application. And you probably have some hopes resting on this process, such as getting a new vehicle or a new credit card. So, disappointment is understandable if the... Read More
It’s finally time to go on that vacation you’ve waited for all year. Whether you’re headed on a relaxing trip or a wild adventure, your credit cards will be the last thing on your mind. While you’re preparing for your big trip, figuring out how to protect credit your cards while traveling should be on your to-do... Read More
Hackers steal more than 250,000 records globally every hour. And improvements in technology make it easier—not harder—all the time for cyber thieves to access your personal and financial information. While identity theft is a scary thought, you aren’t helpless. The three major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax and Transunion—offer three ways to help you protect yourself from... Read More
Credit is one of those things you don’t want to be without. But, as we all know, the credit game is definitely a Catch-22. You need a good credit history to snag the best deals on loans, yet it’s very difficult to get credit without a borrowing history. 1. Become an Authorized User If a friend... Read More
Credit.com recently had the opportunity to sit down with Experian Director of Consumer Education and Awareness Rod Griffin. Rod helps Experian help consumers better understand and manage their personal finances and protect themselves from fraud and identity theft. In April 2016, The Institute for Financial Literacy named Rod its “Educator of the Year.” Our goal... Read More
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Hello, Reader!
Thanks for checking out Credit.com. We hope you find the site and the journalism we produce useful. We wanted to take some time to tell you a bit about ourselves.
Our People
The Credit.com editorial team is staffed by a team of editors and reporters, each with many years of financial reporting experience. We’ve worked for places like the New York Times, American Banker, Frontline, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC and many others. We also employ a few freelancers and more than 50 contributors (these are typically subject matter experts from the worlds of finance, academia, politics, business and elsewhere).
Our Reporting
We take great pains to ensure that the articles, video and graphics you see on Credit.com are thoroughly reported and fact-checked. Each story is read by two separate editors, and we adhere to the highest editorial standards. We’re not perfect, however, and if you see something that you think is wrong, please email us at editorial team [at] credit [dot] com,
The Credit.com editorial team is committed to providing our readers and viewers with sound, well-reported and understandable information designed to inform and empower. We won’t tell you what to do. We will, however, do our best to explain the consequences of various actions, thereby arming you with the information you need to make decisions that are in your best interests. We also write about things relating to money and finance we think are interesting and want to share.
In addition to appearing on Credit.com, our articles are syndicated to dozens of other news sites. We have more than 100 partners, including MSN, ABC News, CBS News, Yahoo, Marketwatch, Scripps, Money Magazine and many others. This network operates similarly to the Associated Press or Reuters, except we focus almost exclusively on issues relating to personal finance. These are not advertorial or paid placements, rather we provide these articles to our partners in most cases for free. These relationships create more awareness of Credit.com in general and they result in more traffic to us as well.
Our Business Model
Credit.com’s journalism is largely supported by an e-commerce business model. Rather than rely on revenue from display ad impressions, Credit.com maintains a financial marketplace separate from its editorial pages. When someone navigates to those pages, and applies for a credit card, for example, Credit.com will get paid what is essentially a finder’s fee if that person ends up getting the card. That doesn’t mean, however, that our editorial decisions are informed by the products available in our marketplace. The editorial team chooses what to write about and how to write about it independently of the decisions and priorities of the business side of the company. In fact, we maintain a strict and important firewall between the editorial and business departments. Our mission as journalists is to serve the reader, not the advertiser. In that sense, we are no different from any other news organization that is supported by ad revenue.
Visitors to Credit.com are also able to register for a free Credit.com account, which gives them access to a tool called The Credit Report Card. This tool provides users with two free credit scores and a breakdown of the information in their Experian credit report, updated twice monthly. Again, this tool is entirely free, and we mention that frequently in our articles, because we think that it’s a good thing for users to have access to data like this. Separate from its educational value, there is also a business angle to the Credit Report Card. Registered users can be matched with products and services for which they are most likely to qualify. In other words, if you register and you find that your credit is less than stellar, Credit.com won’t recommend a high-end platinum credit card that requires an excellent credit score You’d likely get rejected, and that’s no good for you or Credit.com. You’d be no closer to getting a product you need, there’d be a wasted inquiry on your credit report, and Credit.com wouldn’t get paid. These are essentially what are commonly referred to as "targeted ads" in the world of the Internet. Despite all of this, however, even if you never apply for any product, the Credit Report Card will remain free, and none of this will impact how the editorial team reports on credit and credit scores.
Your Stories
Lastly, much of what we do is informed by our own experiences as well as the experiences of our readers. We want to tell your stories if you’re interested in sharing them. Please email us at story ideas [at] credit [dot] com with ideas or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for stopping by.
- The Credit.com Editorial Team
David Lord
Natalie Issa
McCall Robison
