Personal finance news - CNNMoney.com Updated : Macy's reports overcharging customers Some Macy's stores overcharged holiday shoppers who used debit cards to make purchases on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Publ.Date : Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:27:22 EST Life after a six-figure salary Happy new year and welcome to your new job. One that pays 30%, 50%, 70% less than your old one. Publ.Date : Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:26:42 EST Keeping wealth in the family Lisa and Bruce Brown are fortunate enough to have plenty of assets to protect. Foremost of these is their children: The Browns are the proud parents of four-year-old Emma, and they have another baby on the way. The Oakland couple also have considerable assets of the financial variety. Thanks to diligent saving and smart property investments, the Browns have a net worth of nearly $2 million. Publ.Date : Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:09:06 EST RSS feeds Increased Website Traffic

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Factors that determine the credit score of a person

Credit report is an important document lenders get from the credit bureaus when one applies for a loan. The credit report of the person has one important element which reflects the creditworthiness of the person applying for the loan. It is the credit score. If the person has a high credit score, it means more likelihood of the lender approving the loan for the applicant. The value of the credit score, as determined by the FICO (Fair, Isaac and Co.,) has a value from 300 to 800. Anyone scoring 660 and above has good chances of the approval of the loan. Between 620 and 660, the lender needs to be convinced by the applicant for the loan. A credit score of less than 600 means the risk of the loan to the applicant is very high.

The factors that determine the credit score of a person are:

• Past history of repayments towards loans obtained.

• How far the allowed credit has been used. If someone always maxes out the credit card limits, his/her credit score is likely to be affected. If a person has always some credit left on a limit, he/she is considered less risky.

• The number of years of records of credit history.

• Number of times a person approaches a money lender for a credit or a loan. More the attempts to raise a loan, the less will be the score on this count.

• An applicant’s present credit mix – how much on credit cards, personal loans, other loans obtained etc.,

Before applying for a loan, it is a good idea to get hold of a copy of the credit report, check the credit score and fix any errors, if any. This would reduce the length of the loan approval cycle. One should aim for a credit score of 660 + which would make the person less risky by any lender.

We have given links on this website that will help you in understanding the various aspects of credit cards, car loans, personal loans, mortgage loans, debt consolidation loans and credit reports. Click through these links and get to know more before applying for any loans,  credit reports or credit cards.