Why does the credit repair industry exist? It’s actually pretty simple. As long as data is being collected for credit reports, there’s room for mistakes. And those mistakes can have a big impact. They could be the difference in someone qualifying for different credit lines or not. So credit repair, consumer credit and credit bureaus—they’re... Read More
When you’re trying to conquer unpaid debts sent to collections, you’ll likely face some obstacles. Two of the most common are coming up with enough money to pay off the debt and negotiating a payment plan or settlement you can afford. Once you’ve accomplished these tasks, you may still be wondering how to pay collections... Read More
Finding a mistake on your credit report can be frustrating. Those errors can have a negative impact on your credit score. Submitting a credit dispute to the reporting bureaus is the first step in the process of correcting inaccurate information and improving your score. But what comes next? How do credit bureaus fix the error?... Read More
Do-it-yourself projects are so popular, the market for them could be worth close to $14 billion by 2021. From home renovations to credit repair, consumers are taking control back into their own hands. That’s right: Anybody, including you, can make DIY credit repair their next personal project. If you’re suffering from bad credit and want... Read More
Whether you’re dealing with debt collection calls or facing a negative item on your credit report, you might be shocked if the debt isn’t even yours. Unfortunately, paperwork errors happen. And once your name is associated with an incorrect debt, it can be frustrating to get it disassociated. Find out more about how to prove... Read More
Credit repair may seem like a complex concept at first blush. But that’s often because several misconceptions cloud the reality of the process and the potential for results. The truth about credit repair is that it isn’t as complicated as you might have been led to believe. And if you’ve read negative reviews about credit repair... 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
Kaitlyn Mahoney
David Lord
Natalie Issa
Tiffany Smolka
McCall Robison
