vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
The details of credit score calculation tend to change periodically, but the fundamentals are mostly consistent. Pay your bills, keep your average account age high, overpay your credit card minimums, and keep your overall debt low. And do soft pulls on your credit report to see what's happening. First, the simplest route: pay all your bills early or on time. Automatic deduction may be useful in this regard, especially for bills with predictable amounts. A corollary to this tip is to never leave an unpaid bill. What often happens to young people is in the course of moving around they leave the final bill unpaid and it gets reported to collections. Make sure you follow up online with all bills, even after canceling the service. Second, average account age and oldest account age matter. Open an account like a credit card and never close it, so you'll have an older account (hopefully a zero-fee card). Try to keep other accounts open rather than closing them (no need to cancel a zero-fee credit card) so your average account age stays higher. A card that works on internal systems (like a gift card) is not going to show up on a credit report; a card that works like any VISA/MC is likely going to show up. The rule of thumb is if they need your SSN to run a credit check for the application, then the card will appear on a credit report. You can pull your credit report to find out if the card is listed (you may have to allow time for lag before the card appears, but I'm not sure how long that might be). Third, a tip for extra credit score is to pay more than the minimum required on credit card bills. You can achieve this by either using your credit card at least once a month or by leaving a small hanging balance each month so there's always something to overpay next month. Credit card reporting will be either: unpaid, underpaid, minimum paid, or overpaid. Minimum payment helps your score and overpayment helps more. If you can use your credit card every month, that will give you something to overpay every month. Otherwise, you can leave a small debt left on the card but still pay over the monthly minimum.
As of 2014, this answer is deprecated. Read answer here for recent developments up to January 2015.  You can get a free credit report yearly, but you don't get your credit score, just the content of your report. This is useful to make sure your credit history is correct, etc. To get that, visit annualcreditreport.com. Another site which will give you your score for free, really free with no strings attached, is creditkarma.com, which gives you your TransUnion credit score and full TransUnion credit report. The site is run by TransUnion and supported via advertising. At this point Equifax and Experian offer similar services via subscription, but not for free. Update 8/14/2015: CreditKarma now offers the Equifax information as part of their service.
I do this all the time, my credit rating over time plotted on a graph looks like saw blades going upward on a slope I use a credit alert service to get my credit reports quarterly, and I know when the credit agencies update their files (every three months), so I never have a high balance at those particular times Basically, I use the negative hard pulls to propel my credit score upwards with a the consequentially lowered credit utilization ratio, and the credit history. So here is how it works for me, but I am not an impulse buyer and I wouldn't recommend it for most people as I have seen spending habits: Month 1: charge cards, pay minimum balance (raises score multiple points) Month 2: PAY OFF ALL CREDIT CARDS, massive deleveraging using actual money I already have (raises score multiple points) Month 3: get credit report showing low balance, charge cards, pay minimum balance ask for extensions of credit, AND followup on new credit line offers (lowers score several points per credit inquiry) Month 4: charge cards, pay minimum balance, discretionally approving hard pulls - always have room for one or two random hard pulls, such as for a new cell phone contract, or renting a car, or employment, etc Month 5: PAY OFF CREDIT CARDS using actual money you have. (the trick is to NEVER really go above a 15% credit utilization ratio, and to never overleverage. Tricky because very quickly you will get enough credit to go bankrupt) Month 6: get credit report showing low balances, a slight dip in score from last quarter, but still high continue.
"Build your credit history by paying the credit accounts you have on time.  Review these periodically and close the ones you do not need. Ignore your score until it is time to make a large purchase.   Make decisions regarding credit on the basis of whether the debit would be better paid with cash or credit.  Not on credit score. Keep in mind that if your income is invested in your future, your money is working for you.  The income that is paying debt is working for the lenders. Mint is a financial services industry company (Intuit).  You are their product.  Intuit makes money from Mint by placing ads on the site where you visit frequently, and by gathering data about those who subscribe to their service.  They also are paid to refer you to credit card companies to ""build credit."""
If you are not banking with a credit union, open an account.  Speak with a person there an explain you are wanting to build your credit history.  They will likely have a product designed for the purpose. Also, to agree with duffbeer703, why is your score so low at this point? Make sure your three credit reports do not have anything incorrect on them and challenge wrong items. If everything is fine on the report, you just to have more credit and use it for a longer period of time. I presume you are building credit for a large purchase such as a house.  Please be very careful with borrowing money and do your best to avoid carrying balances.
"For customer accounts that you have with a merchant, normally a positive balance in the account is what you owe the merchant. When you have a credit on the account or a negative balance, it usually means that it is an amount that the merchant owes you. This could be because you paid too much, or perhaps it is because the merchant is giving you a refund for some reason.  However, it is always a possibility that this particular merchant is not using the terminology in the conventional way. If you aren't sure, the best thing to do is to ask the merchant directly by contacting their customer service department.  Just judging from the screenshot you posted, it looks to me like they owe you some money. I suggest you click the ""Statement"" button; it looks like that will generate some type of statement that will instruct the merchant to send you a refund. But that is only a guess. Their customer service should be able to tell you what to do."
"My experiment has concluded, with the same exact result that Aganju told me to expect. Just pulled Equifax report on CreditKarma, and confirmed that my bank reported the balance as $0. I expect that TransUnion will be the same; I'll update if it's different (evidently TU is still behind on the updates from my bank; I'll check again next week.) Regarding my score: I went from 1.333% card utilization to 0%, but my ""VantageScore 3.0"" did not change at all; not even by one point."
I would like to establish credit history - have heard it's useful to   gain employment and makes it easy to rent an apartment? Higher credit scores will make it easier with landlords, that's true. As to employment - they do background checks, which means that they usually won't like bad things, but won't care about the good things or no things (they'll know you're a foreigner anyway). Is it safe to assume that this implies I have no history whatsoever? Probably, but you can verify pulling through AnnualCreditReport, don't go around giving your personal information everywhere. Is taking out a secured loan the only way for me? No, but it's one of the easiest. Better would be getting a secured Credit Card, not loan. For loan you'll have to pay interest, for a credit card (assuming you pay off all your purchases immediately) you will only pay the credit card fees (for secured credit cards they charge ~$20-100 yearly fees, so do shop around, the prices vary a lot!). If you're using it wisely, after a year it will be converted to a regular credit card and the collateral will be returned to you with interest (which is actually very competitive, last I heard it was around 2%, twice as much as the online savings accounts). As to a secured loan - you'll be paying 4% to CU for your own money. Doesn't make any sense at all for me. For credit cards you'll at least get some value for your money - convenience, additional fraud protection, etc. The end result will be the same. Usually the credit starts to build up after ~6-12 months (that's why after a year your secured CC will be converted to a regular one). Make sure to have the statement balance in the range of 10-30% of your credit limit, to get the best results. Would it make much better sense to wait till I get a job (then I would   have a fixed monthly salary and can apply for a regular CC directly) You can apply, but you'll probably be rejected. As I mentioned in another answer elsewhere, the system in the US is such that you're unable to get credit if you don't already have credit. Which is kindof a magic circle, which you can break with the secured credit card as the least costly solution.
Google has a tool for comparing credit cards. My suggestion would be for a simple, no-annual fee cash back card. Points can be a hassle to redeem, and like they say, cash is king. Assuming you have the credit score for it, Citi Double Cash is a good choice.
"The first thing I'd do is to find out your credit (FICO) score.  If you have a good one, try to get another card with a lower rate. Then call up the lender, point to your good score, and your alternatives. If you have a bad score, do nothing. ""Let sleeping dogs lie."""
"In the United States, the Fair Credit Reporting Act allows companies to buy your credit information for ""legitimate business needs."" The legitimate use of credit scores and credit reporting varies state to state, but like it or not, you can expect a lot more non-lending use of your credit information in the future. Companies and individuals use credit reports as an assessment of general behavior because, unfortunately, they work. You've seen the disclaimers about ""past performance…"", but unfortunately in this case… past performance really has been shown to be a pretty reliable indicator of future behavior. So…"
"There are always little tricks you can play with your credit card. For example, the due date of your statement balance is not really set in stone as your bank would like you to believe. Banks have a TOS where they can make you liable to pay interest from the statement generation date (which is a good 25 days before your due date) on your balance, if you don't pay off your balance by your due date. However, you can choose to not pay your balance by your due date upto 30 days and they will not report your late payment to credit agencies. If they ask you to pay interest, you can negotiate yourself out of it as well (although not sure if it will work every-time if you make it a habit!) Be careful though: not all banks report your credit utilization based on your statement balance! DCU for example, reports your credit utilization based on your end-of-the-month balance. This can affect your short term credit score (history?) and mess around with your chances of pulling off these tricks with the bank CSRs. These ""little tricks"" can effectively net you more than 60 days of interest free loans, but I am not sure if anyone will condone this as a habit, especially on this website :-)"
"Credit scores are not such a big deal in Canada as they are in the US and even some European countries.  One reason for this: the Social Insurance Number (SIN number) isn't used for so many purposes like the Social Security Number (SSN) in the US.  The SIN number isn't even required to get credit (but with some exceptions it is needed to open an interest-bearing savings account, so that the interest income can be reported).  You can refuse to provide the SIN number to most private companies. Canada also has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates of any large country, so new arrivals are expected, and services are geared up for them.  Most of the banks offer special deals for ""New Canadians"".  You should get a credit card (even if just a secured credit card) through them with one of these offers to start a credit file anyway, but there's no need to actually use it much.  Auto-paying a utility bill through the card, and paying it off in full each month, is one way to keep it active.  No need to ever pay any interest. Most major apartment rental firms will expect a good proportion of their renters to be new to Canada, so should have procedures in place to deal with it (such as a higher deposit).  You should not give them your SIN for a credit check, even when you're more established. Same for utilities, they can just charge a higher deposit if they can't credit check you.  For private landlords, everything is negotiable (but see the laws link at the end of this answer). You will later need a credit rating for a mortgage on a house (if not paying cash), so it's worth getting that one token credit card.  Useful for car rental also. Here's a fairly complete summary of the laws on renting in Canada, which includes the maximum deposits that can be asked for, and notice periods."
I can think of two services off the top of my head that offer free credit score information here in the UK. One being from one of the big three. No legal requirement to offer that service for free to consumers as far as I'm am aware  There's probably other services too..
"It can mean either. When A owes B money, then A is in debit with B and B is in credit with A. What the (Credit) means in this case depends on whether it is meant from the perspective of the utilities company or meant from the perspective of the customer. When the UI is user-friendly, it should describe the situation from the customer perspective which would mean you have credit with the company, but in that case the button ""Pay now"" would be really confusing (should be something like ""Request refund now""). A case of bad UI design. You should use the provided ""contact us"" link to ask a customer representative for a clarification."
"From your question, I believe that you are looking for what these mean in accounting terms and not the difference between a debit and a credit card. I'll deal with purchase and sale first as this is easier. They are the same thing seen from different points of view. If I sell something to you then I have made a sale and you have made a purchase. Every sale is a purchase and every purchase is a sale. Debits and Credits are accounting terms and refer to double column accounting (the most common accounting system used). The way a set of accounts works is, accounts are set up under the following broad headings: The first 3 appear on the Balance Sheet, so called because the accounts balance (Assets = Liabilities + Equity). This is always a ""point-in-time"" snapshot of the accounts (1 June 2015). That last 3 appear on the Profit and Loss sheet, Profit (or loss) = Income - Cost of Goods Sold - Expenses. This is always an interval measure (1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015). Changes in these accounts flow through to the Equity part of the Balance Sheet. When you enter a transaction the Debits always equal the Credits, they are simply applied to different accounts. Debits increase Assets, Cost of Goods Sold and Expenses and decrease Liabilities, Equity and Income. Credits do the reverse For your examples: 1. a customer buy something from me, what is the debit and credit? I will assume they pay $1,000 and the thing cost you $500 Your cash (asset) goes up by $1,000 (Debit), your inventory (asset) goes down by $500 (Credit), your Sales revenue (income) goes up by $500 (credit). This gives you a profit of $500. 2. a customer buy something of worth 1000 but gives me 500 what is debit and credit Your cash (asset) goes up by $500 (Debit), your debtors (asset) goes up by $500, your inventory (asset) goes down by $500 (Credit), your Sales revenue (income) goes up by $500 (credit). This also gives you a profit of $500. 3.
Basically you put down a deposit ($49-$200) and then you get a credit limit related to that card. I think it's got a 29% APR (might wanna double check that) and you have to have a checking account. Once you can show a good payment history with it and that you've had it for a little while it will open up more options with capital one and your credit in general. The one I have had an original credit limit of $300 and now has one of $700 after 7 months.    Also, make sure you're going onto Credit Karma to get updates on your credit and see what they suggest you can work on.
The banks will love you as you pay your debts on time; although they make interest money on people that don't pay full on time, they lose money on those who never pay. In overall, you will be their preferred customer. Also, they make a more than enough money on you using your credit cards, you are basically a nearly risk-free money making machine for them. Aside from those arguments, as a 'proof of concept': I do the same thing for 10+ years and have ~840 rating. You can't get much better.
But cash talks. If you can save yourself a grand or two a month in mortgage overpayment, and have the cash for 1st and last month's rent plus deposit, a job or two, etc. That crap means more than a credit score. Plus don't rent from people you can't talk to about with what is going on in your life.   My personal credit has always been shit (because the morality associated with debt is complete bullshit) since my 20s and I have never had a problem renting, because I let my landlords know I am human and that paying rent on time and in full is my top bill to pay.   People are beginning to realize that FICO scores are pretty meaningless in this Lesser Depression.  e: prepositional indifference
Generally speaking personal loans have higher rates than car loans.  During fairly recent times, the market for car loans has become very competitive.  A local credit union offers loans as low as 1.99% which is about half the prevailing mortgage rate.  In comparison personal loans are typically in the 10-14% range.   Even if it made mathematical sense to do so, I doubt any bank would give you a personal loan secured by a car rather than car loan.  Either the brain would not work that way; or, it would simply be against company policy. These questions always interest me, why the desire to maximize credit score?  There is no correlation between credit score and wealth.  There is no reward for anything beyond a sufficiently high score to obtain the lowest rates which is attained by simply paying one's bills on time.  One will always be limited by income when the amount able to borrow is calculated regardless of score.   I can understand wanting to maximize different aspects of personal finance such as income or investment return percentage, etc..  By why credit score?  This is further complicated by a evolving algorithm.  Attempts to game the score today, may not work in the future.
"I will disagree with the other answers. The idea that there is some to establish a ""credit history"" is largely a myth propagated by loaners who see it as positive propaganda to increase the numbers of their prospective customers. You will find some people who claim they were rejected for a card because they had no ""credit history,"" but in every case what these people are not telling you is they also had no income (were students, house wives, or others with no steady income). Anyone who has income can get a credit card or other line of credit regardless of their ""credit history."" Even people who have gone bankrupt can get credit cards if they have proven income. If your answer to this is that ""you have no income, but still want a credit card"", I would advise you to re-read that sentence several times and think carefully about it. I have never had a credit card and never missed having one, except when trying to rent cars which was somewhat complex and annoying to do in the 2005-2010 time period without a credit card. Credit cards have a number of disadvantages: I definitely agree with those who will tell you credit cards are convenient, they are, but for someone who wants to be financially prudent and build wealth they are unnecessary and unwise. If you don't believe me, read ""The Total Money Makeover"" by David Ramsey, one of the most famous and best-selling books ever written on personal finance. He actually will give you much better and detailed reasons to avoid CCs than me. After all, who am I, just some dumb rich schmuck with lots of money and no debt and a happy life. Comment on Culture I think it is pretty funny we have a lot of spendthrift Americans in this thread basically telling the OP to get lots of credit cards as soon as possible. If you asked the same question in Japan you would get completely different answers and votes. In Japan its hard to even use credit cards. The  people there are much more responsible financially than Americans; the average Japanese person has much higher wealth than a person with the same income in the United States. One of the reasons for this, among many, is that the average Japanese person does not use credit cards. A Japanese person, if you translated this question for them, would think the whole thing a typical example of how foolish Americans are."
Yes, there is.  I was a victim of Experian's breach last year.  The only thing these credit reporting agencies sell is their opinion.  If their opinion is not worth shit because they are compromised, then what they sell has little value.  Next time you hear a lender explaining to you this credit score thingy, ask them if they still remember how to underwrite without it, because it is going away.  They will look at you and try to carefully explain its importance, but you are under no obligation to believe them.  Tell them COBOL sucks, and so does much of the '80s music they still listen to.
I've seen credit cards that provide you your credit score for free, updated once a month and even charted over the last year.  Unfortunately the bank I used to have this card with was bought and the purchasing bank discontinued the feature. Perhaps someone out there knows of some cards that still offer a feature like this?
"Your headline question ""How do you find best mortgage without damaging credit score?"" has a simple answer. If you have all your ducks in a row, and know what you are doing, you will get qualified. If you are like a recent client of mine, low FICO, low downpayment, random income, you might have issues. If your self-prequalification is good, you are in control, go find the best rate/ total cost, no need to put in multiple applications. If, for some reason you do, FICO sees that you are shopping for a single loan, and you are not dinged."
Lowest possible credit score is a 350, and thanks bankruptcy state/thin file (aka, no history). If you have a car loan, you won't be thin file anymore.  Do you have derogatory marks on your score?  Create an account at www.creditkarma.com  If he drops you from that account, your score will likely go down if you have outstanding balances.
Why would a lender for a down payment want proof of income for a house when a credit card issuer gave me more and doesn't care? The risk profile and rate of interest are different.  Could I use this argument as a basis that they have no reasoning to request proof of income, if another lender (credit card company) would give me more without proof of repayment? You could argue anything, but it does not mean the other company will agree with your argument. Should I borrow a home loan from a credit card company then? Or what's the catch here? You can. Check the rate of interest and penal fees; you would realize how much you will end up paying. Depending on the country, the difference could be in the region of 10-15%.