What is a Good FICO Score

By Alison Cole

FICO scores are calculated to determine one's creditworthiness. A good FICO score would ascertain one's capacity to pay for credits or loans for a particular period and would establish one's creditworthiness. Good FICO scores range from 660 to 850; the higher one's FICO score is, the more creditworthy s/he is.

When one has a good FICO score, the best perk that one can get out of it is that s/he can get loans or credits faster. Due to the power of the internet, good FICO scores may be delivered at high speeds directly to finance institutions to enable these firms to speed up their decisions on loan approvals. Good FICO scores are also invaluable in fair credit decisions which focus on the information related to credit risks rather than personal factors. Although credit reporting agencies strongly attest that credit scores are not affected by factors such as gender, race, marital status or religion, there are a number of people who disagree which is why good FICO scores are highly regarded, since having a good standing may obliterate the effects of personal factors. Further, good FICO scores would ensure more available credit to consumers since these ratings provide precise information which finance firms may use to approve loans and credit. Good FICO scores are also predictive in nature since they can be used to predict the person's ability to manage his/her credits in the near future. Since good FICO scores may obtain additional credit and loans, an individual having a good FICO score decreases credit costs for borrowers. Lower costs and increased efficiency in the credit granting process amassed by finance firms have been passed onto creditors which makes credit costs lower.

Good FICO scores are possible despite having poor credit performance in the past. Poor FICO scores only provide a limited picture of the risks which the individual had in the past which s/he was able to overcome to come up with a good FICO score and will not haunt him/her forever.

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How To Obtain Free Mandated Credit Reports

By Tim Gorman

It is always a good idea to make sure that your credit rating is good. It can be very helpful when you apply for loans or mortgages and not many companies will approve you for financial dealings without doing a credit check first. But it can be difficult to know if your credit rating is good and if it is correct, or if the company has made any mistakes in compiling it. But to save you from applying to all of the credit report companies for a copy of the report so that you can adjust any mistakes that they have made and also see how to improve your credit rating, you need to know how to obtain free mandated credit reports.

This is a system started by the government so that you can apply in one place to find out what your credit rating and credit reports are, to save you from having to apply separately to all the different credit reports agencies. It is important to know how to obtain free mandated credit reports as this can have a great effect on any applications that you make and even if the information itself is not correct there are ways that you can improve your credit reports, to make you seem like a better potential customer to the financial organizations.

Since this information can affect so many different aspects of people's lives, the government that it was important that people should know how to obtain free mandated credit reports so they could make sure they were accurate and so they will be the best position possible to better their financial dealings and be more successful with applications.

There is a web site and toll-free number but probably the easiest way to find out how to obtain free mandated credit reports is to go to the web site of the Federal Trade Commission to find the latest links to the information. When you have obtained your credit reports you can then check that the information is correct and if there is anything wrong you can contact the credit report agencies get them to correct it. You can also make a difference to your credit rating by making sure that all your loans and payments are made on time and that you do not have too high amounts of debts and do not apply for too many financial products of the same time.

For more information on how to obtain free mandated credit reports and free credit reports online try visiting http://www.free-online-instant-credit-report.info, a website that specializes in providing tips, advice and credit report resources to include information about annual credit reports.

Evaluating Credit Card Processing Companies

By Jeremy Zongker

There are numerous credit card processing companies to choose from, each offering different features and fees. Choosing a company to process your customer's credit card payments can be a daunting task, and sometimes you'll experience difficulties both looking for a merchant account provider and then afterwards- if you make the wrong selection!

Many banks will deny small business applications for merchant accounts because they don't want to take the risk. Most small businesses end up going through third party providers who actually get the merchant account on your behalf; then apply their own rate structure to your transactions.

If you operate an online business, you'll need a shopping cart program of some kind- which must work with the system you use to process credit cards online. Unfortunately, if you go with a third party shopping cart rather than a custom written one it may not work with all credit card processing gateways. You really need to be sure that whatever shopping cart program you use on your web site works with the merchant account you ultimately end up using to process customer payments.

Accepting credit cards is not free! You pay the third party merchant account provider (or the bank if you are able to secure your own account directly with a bank that provides it) will charge you fees in exchange for the ability to accept credit card payments. The fees and rates you pay will vary depending on many factors, including how long you've been in business, the type of business you operate, your credit score, how much of your sales are processed by phone versus online, and the amount of credit card sales you process each month.

Some providers charge an annual fee in addition to a fee per transaction, while other providers only charge a percentage of each transaction processed. Typical rates for small businesses accepting phone and mail order payments are $0.10 to $0.30 plus 2 to 3% of the transaction amount. If the merchant account providers you are looking at want to charge over this percentage, be sure to check out a few others to see if you can get a lower rate before signing up. Sometimes, your credit rating will result in your having to pay higher fees- but it's worth shopping around a little to see if you can get a lower percentage rate per transaction.

When you're shopping companies looking for the best merchant account provider, make sure to compare all of the fees to see how much you're going to end up spending per each sale. You should also take into consideration what the application fee is (if any), how much you pay annually, how much you must spend on equipment needed to set up your account, and whether or not you must maintain a monthly minimum of sales volume.

Also compare how each merchant account provider allows you to withdraw your money- can you do it whenever you want or do you have to do it at specific times of the month or year? How long will it take to receive your funds once you've requested a withdrawal or transfer of the money? How does the provider handle charge backs?

Always read all of the forms and contracts associated with merchant accounts before you sign anything. Understand the terms for cancellation and what conditions the provider can cancel your account, as well.

The process for applying for a merchant account varies depending on the company, but you may be asked to provide a photo of your office (even if it's in your home) to verify you are in the location you say that you are. Some companies will want to send a representative to photograph your place of business. Occasionally, you'll be asked to provide a DBA or business license, your tax returns and profit and loss statements.

This article has been provided by Creditor Web. Creditor Web has the articles and other credit card processing resources to help you choose the right provider.