The Importance of a Good Credit Rating - Take Advantage of Free Online Credit Report Services 

These days a good credit rating is more important than ever. Having a bad credit rating is the modern day equivalent of being leper -- you’ll be shunned and rejected by people and businesses everywhere. With so much of our economics today running on credit, it is no wonder that people hold credit ratings with such importance.

A Cashless Society

Do people use cash anymore?  Next time you’re in a long line at the supermarket, count how many people ahead of you pay with cash. Repeat this little experiment a few times and you’ll see that just about everyone uses some form of plastic, whether it's a bank debit card, a prepaid debit card, or a credit card. It's next to impossible to pay cash at major hotels these days.  When you try to pay cash, the hotel will still ask for a credit card and charge a cent to it.  Presumably, the hotels do this so that they can collect on any long distance telephone calls or damages that you have incurred.  Nonetheless, the point is that you have to have a credit card to stay at a major hotel chain, even if you prefer to pay cash.

Take Advantage of Free Credit Reports Online

Since having access to credit is so important, it's a good idea to keep a close watch on your credit rating. When was the last time you checked? If you can’t remember, its probably a good idea to get a free online credit report.

There are a number of web sites to get free online credit reports from, and most of them are very easy to use. An example is ‘freecreditreport.com.’ Although you do get a free online credit report, the free report doesn’t have a lot of details in it. Basically, you just get your overall credit score from Experian, without any specific records. To get more details, or to see your score from the other credit agencies, you have to ‘upgrade’ your account which, of course, costs money.

Having a good understanding of your credit rating is worthwhile, however, and if the score you get in your free online credit report is lower than you thought it would be, it's probably worth paying the fee to find out why. Sites that offer free online credit reports are apparently gambling that you’ll want more information. Of course, if you find that your rating is higher than expected, you will be happy with your free online credit report by itself.

Credit Report Memberships

One thing to watch for if you sign up for a free online credit report is any additional memberships the site enrolls you in. For example, ‘freecreditreport.com’ automatically signs you up with a credit service called Triple Advantage, and while your initial membership is free if you don’t cancel it within a month, you’ll start getting regular monthly charges after the first month. The service is actually interesting, however, as it allows you to track recent changes to your credit rating. If you are especially worried about current trends in your credit rating, it may be worth holding on to your membership there.