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We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
Jeanine Skowronski is a credit card expert, analyst, and multimedia journalist with over 10 years of experience covering business and personal finance.
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Sorry, millennial.
You may be able to text with 1 hand, name all your memes and replicate cupcake recipes off of Pinterest, but there’s 1 area you’ve yet to master: credit scoring.
According to a recent survey by the Consumer Federation of America and VantageScore Solutions, 18- to 34-year-olds know less than other demographic groups about who collects the information on which scores are based, and what defines a good credit score.
Don’t feel too bad. There’s an explanation for this.
“Millennials are less knowledgeable about credit scores simply because they have had less experience in the financial services marketplace” than older consumers, says Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America.
All this credit confusion could lead to big problems down the road. You need a solid credit score to qualify for a mortgage, auto loan and other financing. One misstep — like forgetting to pay that credit card bill you opened up just to score a discount on some sweet new kicks — can make the good old American dream that much harder to achieve.
In order to help you avoid any pitfalls, we’ve put together a primer on credit scores and credit reports. Here’s what you absolutely must know.
Jeanine Skowronski is a credit card expert, analyst, and multimedia journalist with over 10 years of experience covering business and personal finance.
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