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YOUR PERSONAL CREDIT MATTERS

Personal credit is intended to be used for the purchase of goods or services that support an individual's family or lifestyle. Some examples include household items, vacations, educational costs, personal vehicle financing, residential mortgages or personal credit cards.

Thousands of entrepreneurs each year launch businesses using personal credit. Although it is often a faster way of securing capital to start a business, the continued use of personal credit for business purposes can
deplete the individual's personal credit rating and can also adversely impact the company's ability to become creditworthy.

Managing personal credit behavior and your personal credit profile can help you establish credit for your business. Many lenders rely upon a personal guarantee in the early years of establishing business credit. In these instances, management of your personal credit factors is key.

Personal Credit Factors
Your Personal Earnings & Outside Income Sources
Your Personal Cost of Living & Outstanding Debt
Your Financial Personality & Spending Patterns
Personal Credit Behaviors
Your Personal Asset Base

Managing personal credit behavior and your personal credit profile can help you establish credit for yoru business. Many lenders rely upon a personal guarantee in the early years of establishing business credit. In these instances, management of your personal credit factors is key.

TOOLS FOR BUILDING HEALTHY PERSONAL CREDIT

Maintaining healthy personal credit can play an important role in the development of credit for a business. As start-up businesses seek to build business credit, lenders often look at the credit practices of the individual behind the business to evaluate payment patterns.

Evaluate your personal credit worthiness by using the Healthy Credit Practices program Personal Credit Analyzer or our HCP Credit Assessment Tool

Use these steps to strengthen and safeguard your personal credit:

Prepare a personal household budget and stick to it
Prepare your personal financial statement
Plan for personal asset growth
Get your personal FICO Score Analysis

Manage your FICO score directly through Fair Isaac

Fair Isaac Corporation is the creator of the FICO score system used by millions of business lenders worldwide.

Order your FICO score report

Review your 3 credit scores & find ways to improve them

Your 3 FICO scores are maintained by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Your score can differ at each of these credit reporting bureaus because they don’t share information. To see how lenders view you, click here to order a copy of each credit report, along with your three (3) FICO scores and a full explanation of the score directly from Fair Isaac.

Protect your identity

Identity theft is rapidly becoming one of the most rampant crimes in the nation. Get comprehensive protection of your FICO credit score against identity theft, quarterly Credit Score Monitoring, along with a $25,000 theft insurance policy.

UNDERSTANDING CREDIT SCORING

Credit scoring helps credit granters to measure the risk associated with a loan request. Fair Isaac Corporation, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax each manage credit scoring models that help lenders expedite loan decisions by using pre-established score cards in evaluating credit applications.

Many lenders tie interest rates to the risk level computed in credit scoring. A higher credit score means less risk associated with a loan request and therefore lower interest rates, and often less collateral may be required for loans to a business owner.

Understanding Your Personal FICO Score

Learn more about your consumer credit score and gain immediate access to your personal FICO score directly from Fair Isaac Corporation, the creator of the FICO score used by lenders worldwide.

Get Your Annual Credit Report FREE

Get a free copy of your personal credit information from one or all three consumer credit reporting agencies through AnnualCreditReport.com. Established by joint efforts of Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, this website was established to provide secure, free access to your credit reports once every twelve (12) months.

AnnualCreditReport.com processes requests for free credit reports under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.

Unpaid Taxes & Other Government Obligations Can Stall Business Loans

When applying for federal or state guaranteed business loans, be wary of unpaid or delinquent child support, tax debts or other government obligations (e.g. student loans). Such past delinquencies can bring a business loan process to an immediate halt.