CREDIT » CREDIT REPAIR & REPORTS

It's truly astounding. When you apply for a credit card online that offers "instant approval," that credit card company can zip around the internet in the blink of an eye and pull up your information electronically, know almost instantly whether you are a good credit risk, what balances you are carrying on your existing credit cards, and whether you have a history of on-time payments. (Sure, sometimes they need to take a few days to make a decision, but in general, they move pretty fast).

How do they do that? Is there some repository of information out there somewhere on the internet maybe in a place that an identity thief might also be able to access just as quickly? Well, don't panic. Your banks and credit card companies are keeping your information safe. In fact, the online credit card companies are not even talking to those companies directly. They get their information from the credit bureaus, and there are three of them: Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

These three credit bureaus are in the business of tracking and recording your behavior with credit from the time you open your very first credit account. They know whether you have a history of making your payments on time, whether you have ever defaulted on a loan, or if you open or close a credit account or loan. that information is noted in a document called a credit report, and each of these agencies has compiled their own credit report on you. From the information on your credit report, they also create a three digit number, known as a "credit score," which represents your creditworthiness. Like the high score in a video game, your credit score lets other people know how well you can play the credit game. So when online credit card companies look online for information about you, this is generally the score upon which they will base their decision to extend you credit.

The best way to maintain a good credit score is to make your payments on time, pay off your credit cards and don't carry high balances from month to month. As you can see, your credit score and credit report are important tools used by creditors to determine your creditworthiness.

Are you interested in finding out what your credit score is? Try a free credit report at GoFreeCredit.com - they're a secure and credible source.

If you've got a less-than-perfect credit score and are stressed out about it, relax.

First of all, you're in good company. Millions of Americans have lowered credit scores due to instances that just about everyone is guilty of: forgotten payments, late payments, accidental balance overages, and other perfectly understandable mistakes.

Like many people who receive a disappointing credit score, you've probably internalized it and see it as a negative reflection of your character. Please. Your integrity as a human being has nothing do with some anonymous bank drone's opinion of you, and at the end of the day the credit card companies are lucky to have your business.

Nonetheless, improving your credit score is a worthy goal, and you may think that a responsible payment record and timely payments will achieve it. That's partially true, but unfortunately, the credit card companies analyze what you actually do with your card, and draw conclusions that affect your score. Nice to know that Big Credit Card Brother is judging you 24/7, isn't it?

Credit card analysis of your transaction patterns even has a name: behavioral scoring. If, for example, you use your credit card at an establishment whose patrons have a poor record of debt repayment, you may be lumped in with their credit profile, regardless of your own. Similarly, Big Credit Card Brother is watching what you purchase, and if what you purchase is deemed to be indicative of a credit risk, then you may wake up one day to find that your credit limit has been reduced or even canceled.

As intrusive and arguably offensive as behavioral scoring may sound, let's face it, credit card companies are going to do what they need to do to protect themselves, and they're the ones who get to set the terms. So, if you're trying to improve your credit score through slow, steady, and quantifiable responsibility, bear in mind that that's definitely critical to your goal, but it's not the whole battle. Awareness of behavioral scoring is definitely needed as well.

If you're worried about your credit score, get a free credit report from GoFreeCredit.com.

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