Most Americans Don’t Understand Their Credit Score

(Associated Press)

Unless you have a contract like A-Rod, you need to know your credit score.

Searching the Internet this morning, I came across an interesting article about the ineffectiveness of credit score commercials. According to Becky Yerak, a columnist for The Chicago Tribune, the plethora of credit score advertisements on television appear to be having little impact on consumers.

No, the reason has nothing to do with the quality of the commercials — as annoying as they may seem sometimes. Rather, as staggering statistics from a recent poll prove, a large percentage of the adult population in the United States lacks a basic knowledge of how credit scores work. Since there is a general lack of knowledge on the subject and the majority of commercials lack the flair of a Bud Light or Geico spot, people have tended to turn away.

In May, the Opinion Research Corporation surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults about their knowledge of credit reports and scores. Personally, I was surprised that only 47 percent of the people who participated in the survey considered their credit to be good or excellent. Even more stunning to me, only 27 percent, meaning just 270 of the 1,000 people surveyed, knew the meaning of the term “credit score.”

In order to establish strong credit, it’s imperative to understand how credit reports and scores work. Not only should you understand how credit works, you should know what your credit score is at all times. Without a general knowledge of credit, it becomes exceedingly more difficult to have a good credit score. And unless your name is Alex Rodriguez, who earns more in a day than most people do in an entire year, you need to have a good credit score to ensure financial success.

For the 730 people from the survey, or anyone else out there who doesn’t know what a credit score is, here is a cheat sheet for you.

A credit score is “a numerical expression based on a statistical analysis of a person's credit files, to represent the creditworthiness of that person, which is the likelihood that the person will pay his or her debts. A credit score is primarily based on credit report information, typically sourced from credit bureaus / credit reference agencies.”

Now you know. The next step you should take is to find out what your current credit score is. The video below will give you more information on how to acess a FREE Triple Credit Report.



With Joe Coffey, the former head of the NYPD Organized Crime Task Force, who is widely known for his role as one of the lead detectives in the infamous Son of Sam investigation, as the host, you will be on the edge of your seat for the duration of the above clip. This video definitely doesn't fall into the category of annoying credit score commercials. Hey, it's Joe Coffey! What I want to know is who is going to play the former investigator in The Bronx is Burning, the new series on ESPN revisiting the New York Yankees run to the World Series title during the 1977 season, the Summer of Sam?