Article Updated July 16, 2018. Are you trying to figure out how to consolidate your debt? One of our readers, Ricky, wrote on the Credit.com blog that he is “trying to consolidate bills since divorce to get back on track.” Another reader, Norma, wrote: “I have too much credit card debt with high interest. I... Read More
Article Updated July 13, 2018 You open your statement and discover you’re late on your credit card payment. Or you get a call from a collection agency about a medical bill you forgot to pay. Or you check your credit reports and discover a late payment is marring your otherwise perfect payment history. What happens if you... Read More
Recent college graduates get a lot of advice from a lot of directions. Mom, Dad, school friends, crazy Uncle Harry, the Internet, Instagram. Get a job, take a European vacation, don’t buy a car, move somewhere new, buy a professional wardrobe, go to grad school, follow your dreams, take that job offer now. But you’ll... Read More
Without the college experience you once took for granted — dorms, prepaid meals, parental bailouts, etc. — recent graduates are left to brave the tightrope of financial responsibility without a safety net. Post-grad life is as liberating as it is marked by destitution. For one, shortly after commencement, the burden of loan payments, bills, and... Read More
The record number of data breaches in 2017 (1,579 publicly-reported breaches to be exact) and the sensitivity of the data stolen (especially social security numbers and passwords) have led many to wonder how to protect themselves. Since I work in the identity protection industry, my friends and family have asked what recommendations they should follow... Read More
Nothing says adulting quite like hunting for your first post college job. Taking steps to embark on what should, by all indications, be an epic career journey, is equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. While there are a litany of resources available that can help you search, apply, and get hired for your dream job, there... Read More
This Article was Updated July 5, 2018 When you are looking to buy a vehicle, the first thing you should do is apply for a preapproved loan. The loan process can seem daunting, but it’s easier than you think and getting preapproval prior to going to the car dealer may help alleviate a lot of... Read More
Article Updated July 3, 2018 If you feel burdened under the weight of student loan debt, we have some good news: you may be able to get those student loans forgiven. In 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a report estimating that up to one in four Americans may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program,... Read More
Article Updated by June 29, 2018 Finding the words charged off on your credit report isn’t good news. It can be scary and confusing when you don’t understand what it means or how it happened. The name itself isn’t helpful either. People often misinterpret the meaning, which can lead to more costly mistakes with your credit. Learning... Read More
College students often work summer jobs to gain experience and save up cash for when they return to school. But it can be difficult to build up enough savings for the school year in three months, especially if you don’t make a lot of money. To maximize your savings, you need to dedicate yourself to... Read More
Certain credit cards and other financial products mentioned in this and other sponsored content on Credit.com are Partners with Credit.com. Credit.com receives compensation if our users apply for and ultimately sign up for any financial products or cards offered.
Hello, Reader!
Thanks for checking out Credit.com. We hope you find the site and the journalism we produce useful. We wanted to take some time to tell you a bit about ourselves.
Our People
The Credit.com editorial team is staffed by a team of editors and reporters, each with many years of financial reporting experience. We’ve worked for places like the New York Times, American Banker, Frontline, TheStreet.com, Business Insider, ABC News, NBC News, CNBC and many others. We also employ a few freelancers and more than 50 contributors (these are typically subject matter experts from the worlds of finance, academia, politics, business and elsewhere).
Our Reporting
We take great pains to ensure that the articles, video and graphics you see on Credit.com are thoroughly reported and fact-checked. Each story is read by two separate editors, and we adhere to the highest editorial standards. We’re not perfect, however, and if you see something that you think is wrong, please email us at editorial team [at] credit [dot] com,
The Credit.com editorial team is committed to providing our readers and viewers with sound, well-reported and understandable information designed to inform and empower. We won’t tell you what to do. We will, however, do our best to explain the consequences of various actions, thereby arming you with the information you need to make decisions that are in your best interests. We also write about things relating to money and finance we think are interesting and want to share.
In addition to appearing on Credit.com, our articles are syndicated to dozens of other news sites. We have more than 100 partners, including MSN, ABC News, CBS News, Yahoo, Marketwatch, Scripps, Money Magazine and many others. This network operates similarly to the Associated Press or Reuters, except we focus almost exclusively on issues relating to personal finance. These are not advertorial or paid placements, rather we provide these articles to our partners in most cases for free. These relationships create more awareness of Credit.com in general and they result in more traffic to us as well.
Our Business Model
Credit.com’s journalism is largely supported by an e-commerce business model. Rather than rely on revenue from display ad impressions, Credit.com maintains a financial marketplace separate from its editorial pages. When someone navigates to those pages, and applies for a credit card, for example, Credit.com will get paid what is essentially a finder’s fee if that person ends up getting the card. That doesn’t mean, however, that our editorial decisions are informed by the products available in our marketplace. The editorial team chooses what to write about and how to write about it independently of the decisions and priorities of the business side of the company. In fact, we maintain a strict and important firewall between the editorial and business departments. Our mission as journalists is to serve the reader, not the advertiser. In that sense, we are no different from any other news organization that is supported by ad revenue.
Visitors to Credit.com are also able to register for a free Credit.com account, which gives them access to a tool called The Credit Report Card. This tool provides users with two free credit scores and a breakdown of the information in their Experian credit report, updated twice monthly. Again, this tool is entirely free, and we mention that frequently in our articles, because we think that it’s a good thing for users to have access to data like this. Separate from its educational value, there is also a business angle to the Credit Report Card. Registered users can be matched with products and services for which they are most likely to qualify. In other words, if you register and you find that your credit is less than stellar, Credit.com won’t recommend a high-end platinum credit card that requires an excellent credit score You’d likely get rejected, and that’s no good for you or Credit.com. You’d be no closer to getting a product you need, there’d be a wasted inquiry on your credit report, and Credit.com wouldn’t get paid. These are essentially what are commonly referred to as "targeted ads" in the world of the Internet. Despite all of this, however, even if you never apply for any product, the Credit Report Card will remain free, and none of this will impact how the editorial team reports on credit and credit scores.
Your Stories
Lastly, much of what we do is informed by our own experiences as well as the experiences of our readers. We want to tell your stories if you’re interested in sharing them. Please email us at story ideas [at] credit [dot] com with ideas or visit us on Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for stopping by.
- The Credit.com Editorial Team
Taylor White
Adam Levin
Josh Smith
Elisa Ortiz
David Lord
Bob Sullivan
