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Experian |
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Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus in the United States. As a credit bureau, Experian is responsible for providing those in the business of lending credit or money with the information these businesses need to determine whether or not they should extend funding or credit to those who apply.
These businesses make their determinations after analyzing your ability to manage the credit that has already been issued to you. All of this information is available on an Experian credit report. A pattern of timely repayments is a good indication that you manage your credit wisely, but it is not the only issue that is analyzed.
Having too many open accounts can be a red flag, especially if those accounts have high available credit limits. Such a situation means that at any time, you could go on a spending spree and charge up a considerable amount. If that happened, your ability to repay that debt would be questionable.
Maintaining this important financial information is primarily what Experian and the other two credit bureaus do. With this information readily available, it takes just a few moments for lenders to determine your creditworthiness. The lender might decide to deny you the credit you requested, or the lender might grant approval for credit but with a steep rate of interest. If you’re a good credit risk, your request likely will be approved and you’ll probably be offered a favorable interest rate since lenders will want your business.
That’s why you should know exactly what your credit report contains. Only you can ensure that the information is 100% accurate. Given the volume of data that is fed into the Experian databases each day, discrepancies are quite common. New legislation allows consumers to receive a full copy of their credit reports from each of the 3 major credit reporting bureaus once every year for free. Be sure to take advantage of this!
When you receive your credit reports from Experian and the others, take time to carefully scrutinize each line item. Should you identify an entry that you feel is incorrect, each credit bureau offers a dispute resolution procedure. Follow the steps precisely and be sure to follow through. You won’t always be successful in clearing up a discrepancy, but trying is definitely worth your time and effort. Clearing up just a few discrepancies could drastically change the way your behavior is interpreted by lenders.
To get a copy of your free Experian credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com.
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Credit Card Definitions > A - E > Experian
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