Credit Cards
Credit Cards: What You Need To Know
What do creditors look for when
they are deciding who to give credit to?
They
look at the Three Cs...
Character - do you intend on repaying your debts?
- Have you used credit before?
- Do you pay your bills on time?
- Do you have a good credit report?
- Can you provide character references?
- From your credit history, does it look like you possess the honesty and reliability to pay credit debts?
- How long have you lived at your present address?
Capital - what are your sources to repay the debt?
- What property do you own?
- Do you have a savings account?
- Do you have investments to use as collateral?
Capacity - can you repay the debt?
- Do you have a steady job?
- How long have you been at your present job?
- What is your salary?
- How many other loan payments do you have?
- What are your current living expenses? What are your current debts?
- How many dependents do you have?
- Establish a steady work record.
- Pay all bills promptly.
- Open a checking account and don't bounce checks or overdraw your account.
- Open a savings account and make regular deposits.
- Apply for a local store credit card and make regular monthly payments.
- Apply for a small loan using your savings account as collateral.
- Get a co?signer on a loan and pay back the loan as agreed.
- Shop around for the best terms. www.BankRate.com is a great resource for finding the best available deals.
- Read and understand the contract.
- Don't rush into signing anything.
- Once a contract is signed, get a copy of it.
- Figure out total price when paying with credit.
- Make the largest payments possible.
- Know the penalties for missed payments.
