Happy National Credit Education Month!

by Saiqa Anne Qureshi, Staff Writer, FWSF MarCom Committee

March is National Credit Education month #CreditEducationMonth, and provides an opportunity to remind everyone about the value of the credit score. This score is used to determine your risk profile to be loaned money.

Your score can range from Very Poor (300-579) to Exceptional or Excellent (800-850), depending on the reporting bureaus. The three major ones are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

The term Credit was first used in the 1520’s by bankers in London to describe loan reliability, but the concept of “credit rating” as we see it today did not emerge until 1958 in the United States. The Consumer Credit Protection Act came into place in 1968 to protect consumers from unethical credit practices. It was updated in 2009 in the Credit Card Act, which clarified practices and ensure clearer communication with consumers.

What affects your Credit Score?  

  • Age of credit history: the longer you have a history, and ideally a good one, the stronger you can show you are reliable  
  • Amount of debt: showing you are reducing your debt  
  • Number of accounts: opening and closing accounts impacts your credit score  
  • Inquiries for credit: the number and recency of applications for loans
  • Debt-to-Income Ratio: (DTI) ratio is a calculation of your monthly debt payments divided by your gross
  • monthly income, that lenders use to measure your ability to repay the money you borrow  
  • Reports to collections agencies: if you have items in collections, even if they are in error, if they have not been resolved  
  • Late payments: any loan payments made late 

When checking credit reports, according to the Federal Trade Commission, about 20% of people find errors, and the majority of home and auto insurers use credit ratings to decide who to cover and what premiums to charge. March is a month-long opportunity to review finances, check credit reports, consider debt to income ratio, and credit utilization. While this month is primarily focused on consumers, credit education is also important for businesses, since payment fraud, identity theft, and debt can affect merchants. 

From Connections Newsletter (Food for Thought): March 2025

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Sources

National Day Calendar 
National Today
Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
Clover