Every american has a credit score tied to thier social security number which was issued by the government.

How did that happen?

Were you consulted before this was done?

Which independant 3rd party arbitrator makes sure that your government issued credit report is accurate?

Where is the federal law that gives the credit reporting agencies the right to issue you a score based upon your government issued ID?

[edit on 12-11-2006 by In nothing we trust]

Same here in the UK dude.
And if you are like me and you never had a credit card,your credit rating is pretty low.
How people have been conned into believing these cards are "essential" is beyond me.
What a racket-the charges are criminal.
But I guess thats that banks for you...Most money now only exists on computers,just the way they like it at the world bank.

I don't think it's fair either for people to be assigned some kind of number based on their credit. It's probably not even a good gauge for them of whether the person is good risk or not.

Mainly because credit reporting agencies can really screw up your credit report themselves.

I had the experience of haveing someone's elses unpaid debt of 5,000 dollars on mine a few years ago. I had to go to alot of trouble to make the credit reporting agency fix it. And provide proof that it was'nt mine.

They did this mistake, not me...but yet I could've been "punished" by haveing my "score" lowered.

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
And if you are like me and you never had a credit card,your credit rating is pretty low.

In all honesty your credit rating isn't a measure of your ability to repay a debt. While it does say something about the risk, it's not a risk measurement. It's a score given to you that tells a banker how likely he is to be able to earn interest off of you. While it's true that bad financial decisions lower your credit score, good financial decisions will keep it in the dirt as well. If you like to pay off your card every month and you don't keep a balance you're a bad investment because they're not earning anything off of you.

I have some work related ties to the banking and financial industry. Let me tell you what they really love. They want you to borrow money till it almost breaks you. As long as you pay it back most of the time, they'll love you.

Understood debates,
Thats what my friends tell me who use cards...its really bad though because once people realise what you mentioned,I have seen some purposefully get in to debt,in order to fight their way back into the green to get a better credit score.
Not as easy as it sounds though...