Americans Know Little about Their Own Creditworthiness

[debtcollector`]

TransUnion's TrueCredit.com Reveals Americans Know Little about Their Own Creditworthiness

May 11, 2006

Interest rate concerns, State and Federal legislation and the prevalence of identity theft have made credit reports and scores a regular fixture in headlines over the past couple of years. But has that translated into greater consumer credit awareness? TransUnion's TrueCredit.com recently commissioned Roper Public Affairs to gauge how much Americans really know about their own credit. When asked if they know their credit score, only 19 percent of respondents could provide an answer falling inside the correct scoring range, while 64 percent report they simply do not know their score.

"Despite a heightened presence of credit topics in the media, Americans know shockingly little about their own credit," said John Danaher, President of TransUnion's TrueCredit.com. "People need to understand that knowing your credit score and what is contained in your credit report is just as important as knowing your bank balance or the value of your 401(k), and it's never been easier to do."

The survey revealed that close to half of respondents (48 percent) never check their credit reports and one in five (19 percent) say they check their reports less than once a year.

The survey also demonstrates a noteworthy correlation between income level and credit knowledge:

* Those with household incomes of $50,000 or greater are more than twice as likely to know their credit score as those who make less (34 percent vs. 15 percent)
* Sixty-nine percent of those making less than $20,000 never check their credit reports, vs. 33 percent of those making $50,000 or more

"Guess what? Access to your own credit information is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy," added Danaher. "By understanding how credit grantors and lenders perceive you now, virtually anyone, regardless of income level, can become a more attractive loan candidate and secure better terms for an upcoming purchase."

Source: Press Release

[averad]

I like that they do not include any links or steps on how to receive your credit score. Instead they give TrueCredit.com who charges.

[debtcollector`]

Truecredit conducted the survey and issued the press release. Makes perfect sense.

[xylene]

Interesting information.

However- a press release is a fancy word for AD.

What I want to see is statistics on the breakdown of types of purchases are made on credit by income. That would be telling.

[Chien]

What I want to see is statistics on the breakdown of types of purchases are made on credit by income. That would be telling.

A breakdown of (1) credit debt per capita income and (2) delinquencies by levels of income would be more telling.

[Chien]

OP - If you were looking for validation of any implied beliefs, you may have it.

I like that they do not include any links or steps on how to receive your credit score.

a press release is a fancy word for AD.

[xylene]

Nothing implied about my beliefs at all.

A press release is a form of external communication. In the corporate/business world this is done to supplement and serve as advertising. (True enough government press relations works very differently - this is not the case here)

I am not making any asumptions about this. I know what clients ask for.



As to my second point, and it is sincere, I want to see want people are buying with debt by income. I would hypothesize that higher income groups may be using debt to finance the purchase of assets... while lower income cohorts might be buying lifestyle goods and/or basic needs items. Those are my assumptions. While DC's info is interesting, the data I want would be even more telling.