Credit News
Credit and credit card newsCredit Utilization Rises as Number of Credit Cards Falls
A new report from credit bureau Experian revealed that the average consumer had 1.97 bank cards and more than $4,200 in debt as of the end of 2010. This former number has fallen nearly 23 percent from 2007, likely due ... Read More »
Average VantageScore Credit Score Falls to 748
The average VantageScore credit score fell to 748 in August (latest month available), as measured by credit bureau Experian. However, it has only dipped eight points since 2007, just before the housing boom turned to housing bust. The average credit ... Read More »
Bank of America Adding Annual Fee to Some Credit Cards
In a bid to mitigate risk, Bank of America is adding a $59 annual fee to select credit cards, according to ABC News. The Charlotte-based bank began sending notices out to card holders last week, and will assess the annual ... Read More »
Consumer Credit Scores Fell Two Points Since January 2010
Consumer credit scores fell a whopping two points since January 2010, according to a survey released this week by Credit Karma. The company, which provides a quasi free credit score, said the national average credit score was 667 last month, ... Read More »
VantageScore May Be Getting Upper Hand on Fico
The lesser known VantageScore made another inroad in its battle with the almighty Fico score, grabbing a patent for its system of “characteristic leveling.” In short, characteristic leveling provides consistency among the 3 major credit bureaus, something the traditional Fico ... Read More »
Rental History to Be Included in Credit Reports
Credit bureau Experian announced last week that positive rental history will be included on credit reports going forward. The move should help underbanked consumers, such as college students and recent immigrants, build credit history. In the past, only subsets of ... Read More »
FTC to Study Credit Report Errors
The FTC issued another report to Congress last week detailing progress made regarding a forthcoming study of credit report errors. The study will involve roughly 1,000 randomly selected consumers throughout the nation. Each will be paired with a so-called expert, ... Read More »
California Mortgage Applicants Have Best Credit Scores
California mortgage applicants led the nation in the credit score department, according to a study from MortgageMarvel.com, a provider of real time mortgage quotes. The company said Californians had the highest credit scores on average, at 755, beating the national ... Read More »
More Than 8 Million Stop Using Credit Cards
More than eight million consumers stopped actively using bank-issued, general purpose credit cards over the past year, according to a quarterly analysis from credit bureau TransUnion. The company attributed it in part to charge-offs in the higher-risk segment of the ... Read More »
Proposed Credit Card Rules Target New Loopholes
We’ve already seen two new sets of credit card rules introduced over the past year, and it looks as if a third is on the way. Previous changes included the end of negative payment hierarchy, double-cycle billing, arbitrary interest rate ... Read More »
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