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What is credit History and Credit Worthiness ?

We are going to go over the basics of Credit and Credit Reporting in upcoming articles. This post answers the following queries.

  • What is credit History and Credit Worthiness ?
  • Who monitors my Credit ?
  • Are credit Bureaus

Credit History is a significant factor in every walk of life in US. Credit worthiness plays a key role in getting that High profile job , a low interest mortgage or Nice rental in a good neighbourhood.

But many are surprised to know that a person’s credit history is not reported to Govt, rather it is a group private organisations who maintain the records. Equifax , Experian and Transunion are the Credit Bureaus of US. They maintain the record of any individual associated with Reported Credit Activity.

Not all the three Bureaus have the same data about an individual, the data depends on the lender’s reporting Bureau. Most lenders report to one or two Bureau at a time.

In the upcoming articles, I will be talking about Credit history , Credit Building and much more about how you can save thousands every year by just doing basic things right.

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What is a credit score ? How is it calculated ?

Credit Score is a number usually given between 300-850 based on an individual’s credit reports (Credit History Reports), though there is no fixed rule of arriving at a credit score, but the higher the score the better deals you get from lenders.

Credit scores are directly proportional to your creditworthiness. It is widely accepted that a score of 700+ is considered good and any score less than 600 is considered high risk group. Each event in a person’s credit affects the credit score, and the score change depends upon the significance of the event.

The following factors affect the credit score

1. % of usage of credit utilized.
2. Payment History – If you have paid on time on Credit card, Mortgage or Utilities.
3. Lenght of Credit History.
4. Type of Credit – The more types of credit you have a better score.
5. Recent Credit Enquiries on the Credit Report.

Lenders usually provide credit approvals based on the Credit Score, a good score means instant approvals and an average score will lead to scrutiny and an Bad score often outright rejection.

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Google Nexus S – Preview

With Android numbers skyrocketing in every major network, Google has announced its second phone Nexus S this time manufactured by Samsung. The phone (GSM) will be sold unlocked  and can be used it with any network. The phone will be sold through Bestbuy with either a TMobile Contract or unlocked. The phone is expected to be sold at $550 unlocked or 149$ with a new or upgrade  2 year contract.

Nexus S looks promising, with Samsung as its manufacturer and a impressive hardware Resume to bolster the new Android Gingerbread OS (Android 2.3).  Nexus S runs on the 1 GHz 1GHz Cortex A8 ( HummingBird ) Processor with 16GB iNAND memory inbuilt. It has Gorgeous 4 inch AMOLED screen,  The camera is 5 MP with autofocus and flash, with 720p Video capture capable.

As you would expect has a full array of Google Products, and can act as a WiFi Hotspot allowing upto 5 devices to connect to it freely. Nexus S comes with Google Maps 5.0 Beta boasting 3D maps. Also the Nexus S supports Near Field Communication (NFC).

The phone also has 6.7 hours talktime on 3G and 14 hours on 2G. There is certainly lots of excitement about the Nexus S,  unlike Nexus One which failed to take off like other Android phones, this can be a big boost to Google in the hardware space ahead of its Chrome OS launch.