FICO is one of the best known names in the credit industry — it’s practically synonymous with credit scoring, despite the existence of hundreds of other scoring models. The first general-purpose credit score (Beacon at Equifax) came from FICO in 1989, effectively transforming the consumer lending landscape to heavily incorporate predictive analytics. Anyone who has… Read More

If there’s one thing Washington is exceptionally good at, it’s politicizing the personal. In the past few weeks, the ongoing debate over “equal pay for equal work” has typified this type of unfair politicization – this time with women – and instead of working together on solutions to empower American women, it has only perpetuated… Read More

Between television commercials, and advertisements on the Internet and in your mailbox, there is no shortage of information about credit cards. But when it comes to determining which one you should get, a pretty good place to start, when sorting through the hundreds of cards on the market, is to eliminate those you should avoid…. Read More

I honestly can’t believe that we’re still arguing over equal pay in 2014. When I started teaching elementary school after college, the public school district didn’t hide the fact that it had two pay scales: one for men and one for women. Women have made incredible strides since then. But 40 years later, we’re still… Read More

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago is investigating Higher One, the leading issuer of campus debit cards, and one of its former bank partners for potentially engaging in unfair or deceptive practices. The debit cards allow students to access their financial aid refunds directly through the card, as opposed to waiting for a check from… Read More

It’s easy to procrastinate, especially when it comes to things that aren’t fun. For many people, finances fall into that category. But putting off your financial responsibilities won’t make them go away — so it’s best to just get them done. Here are three thrifty things to do today to stay on financial track. Put… Read More

There are many reasons to open a new credit card: Maybe you want to take advantage of its great rewards, transfer a balance from a different card with a higher interest rate, finance a large purchase, make ends meet in an emergency or increase your available credit limit. But in some states, credit card holders… Read More

You want a great credit score?  First you need to know what you’re working with. Even if you know the number of your score, you won’t know if it’s good or bad until you know the range used by the scoring model. If you have poor credit, you may be dealing with a score in… Read More

Your next vacation is probably fun to think about, but the thought of paying for it may not be. Sometimes we have to think about the not-so-fun things so we can enjoy the fun ones. Spend a little time considering the following four “not fun” topics so your next vacation can be stress-free. 1. Life… Read More

In February, a scam surfaced that alerted Netflix users their accounts had been compromised and they needed to call customer support to resolve the issue. The 800-number connected users with hackers trying to get customers’ personal information — a practice known as phishing — as well as attempting to search victims’ computers using remote-access software…. Read More