News

From borrowing money to accessing affordable housing or insurance, healthy credit makes life easier and more affordable.  

How do you make sure your credit is as strong as possible in 2023? One way to do this is to stay informed.

Here are 4 recent updates that are worth knowing about credit scores and credit reports.  

1. Significant changes to medical debt reporting

In a win for consumers, the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) updated their methodology for reporting medical debt:

• Paid medical collections will be removed from consumers’ credit reports.
• Consumers will now receive a full year to work through insurance or billing issues with healthcare providers before unpaid medical debt is reflected on a credit report.
• By July 1, 2023, medical collection debt with a balance of $500 or less will not appear on credit reports.

The major credit bureaus estimate these changes will remove 70% of all medical collection debt from consumer credit reports.

2. ‘Buy now, pay later’ loans more likely to be reported

Buy now, pay later, or BNPL, is a type of short-term loan used for smaller purchases. Many online retailers offer them to allow consumers to break up a purchase into smaller weekly or monthly payments.

Until recently, these loans were not reported on consumer credit reports. That is beginning to change. Since these tend to be short-term loans, they will impact the length of your credit history, which is an element of your credit score. If you have late payments or BNPL loans sent to collections, these can also hurt your credit score significantly. Like any purchasing option, you want to ensure you understand how it may or may not be the best fit for your situation.

3. Newer credit scores may factor in ‘trended data’

There are many versions of your FICO credit score, which is the most common credit scoring model. One of the newest versions, FICO 10T, takes advantage of trended data to produce your credit score. Trended data looks at factors like your credit balances and payments over the last 24 months. If they have been increasing during that timeframe, FICO 10T may determine you have a lower credit score than other FICO models, which solely take a snapshot of your credit right now.

Ask your lender which credit score model they use. It may help inform decisions you make with your credit.

4. Free weekly credit reports continuing in 2023

Through all of 2023, the credit reporting agencies are making free weekly credit reports available to consumers at annualcreditreport.com, the only safe site to get your full credit reports. The Federal Trade Commission estimates 1 in 5 people have an error on their credit report, and most errors have to be caught by the consumer to be corrected through a dispute process.

If you are gearing up for a major purchase such as a home, car, or RV, you want to make sure your credit is in great shape. Check on your credit reports regularly.

Live well in 2023

If you’d like one-on-one advice for building your credit or catching credit errors, reach out. Talk with a member of the Numerica team or contact a certified financial counselor today.