Recent Survey Shows Need For Credit Education

Just how critical is a good credit score? It is a key factor in determining whether you qualify for a home loan and the interest rate you'll pay.

On a $150,000 home mortgage, a difference of just two percentage points can mean a savings of more than $70,000 in interest over 30 years. Yet a new survey by HSBC indicates that seven in 10 consumers don't know their credit score. And nearly half don't know what makes up their credit score.

HSBC offers these six tips that could lead to a higher credit score.

* Make your credit payments promptly.

* Pay utility, rent and telephone bills on time.

* Because errors occur, review your credit report annually.

* Pay off an account with a poor credit history.

* Close accounts that you aren't using, but avoid closing your oldest account.

* Carefully manage your credit account balances since your score is affected by the total credit used as a percentage of your total credit available.

To help close the knowledge gap, HSBC launched its "Your Credit Counts" financial-education program for a second consecutive year.



By: Roy Garcia