Who would need your credit score?
Most of the time, you think of your credit score as something fairly private, only for your use in order to
gauge what your creditworthiness looks like to other people, and maybe to protect against identity theft by
seeing unauthorized accounts opened in your name. However, your
credit score is used quite a bit, especially when you are shopping for something major. The people who are most likely to need your credit score would be a banker, if
you are looking for a home loan, a car dealership, if you are looking to purchase a new vehicle, and a credit
card company, if you want to open a new credit card.
People looking around for a home loan are going to have their credit score scrutinized by every bank that they
apply to, especially if their debt to income ratio isn’t optimal, or they are pushing the limits of what they
can reasonably afford with their current wage. Since a minimum
credit score is required by most banks, and almost all federal housing loan requirements, it should be no
surprise that your banker would want to see your credit score, usually done by having you sign a document giving
the bank permission to pull your credit report and see your credit score.
When you want to purchase a new vehicle and are planning on financing or leasing it, your credit score is going
to have to be made available to those in the dealership who have a vested interest in the sale. This can often mean that a finance manager, the salesman, their manager, and
possibly a loan consultant. These 4 people all have to agree upon
your loan terms and conditions in order for you to get your vehicle and have either your financing or lease
approved. Dealerships do this to make sure that they are likely to
make money on the vehicle they are selling you, and that you can afford the monthly payments, if you get the
vehicle and can’t afford it, they will have to waste the time and money to get it back, put it out on their lot
again, have it cleaned and tuned-up, and end up having to sell it at a lower price because of the additional
mileage and time.
Credit card companies often use your credit score to determine whether or not you would be a good customer for
their credit card company, and how much of a credit line to give you if you are approved. Having a good credit score can also lead to lower interest rates and it may
make you eligible for a variety of rewards programs. Rarely will an
actual person look at your credit score for a credit card company, as most of the time, this is done by
computers that will then spit out a number that you would be pre-approved for.
Any place that is willing to give you a loan will probably want to see your credit score, having a lot of places
see it at once will not hurt it, as the algorithms take into account that you are probably shopping around for a
loan, and thus, will not penalize you for it.
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