# Stupid Credit Companies **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003 "2018-08-02T21:54:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/41 "2018-08-03T14:35:45Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I made a family member (adult) an authorized user of one of my cards. And she got her own card with her own name on it with the same account number as my card. In addition, the card showed up on her credit report as well. Maybe that is the way to go with an adult daughter? Possibly, but she won’t be 18 for a few more years yet and all kinds of things can change between no and then. It’s just something I plan to do and here and there look into it. I feel a bit bad when kids first start renting and have all kinds of issues finding someone who will lease to them, trying to get a car, trying to get a credit card all because they have no credit history, especially when (assuming you’re a financially responsible parent) it’s so easy to fix. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/42 "2018-08-03T14:41:58Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If you are never going to want to borrow money, you don’t care what your credit score is. If you do, however, the lender is not going to be the first person who ever lent you money. If he is, he is going to charge you more because you are riskier. > Today credit card companies and other lenders do massive data mining to try to predict credit risks, and, for credit cards, try to predict the risk of default. Actually, some prospective employers run your credit. I’m not sure why; I don’t know if they think that people with a lot of debt are more likely to steal, or that people with debt or bad credit are a security risk of some sort. Or maybe they just don’t want creditors calling you at work. Also, if you want to rent an apartment, they run your credit. I hope I don’t have to move any time soon, but stuff happens. Our last place was a place we thought we’d be for a long time, but then it got sold, and the new landlords were pretty shady. I don’t want to go into detail, but we decided we needed to get out. So suddenly we found ourselves moving. Fortunately, our credit was good enough to get into pretty much any place we wanted. It isn’t perfect, so there might have been places it would have kept us out of, but we probably couldn’t have afforded them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/43 "2018-08-03T14:42:23Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Well in my case it’s because I don’t have one, never have, and wouldn’t know where to get one that’s not a ripoff. > > I’ve occasionally thought about getting a credit card, annoying as it would be to have to manage it, but I honestly wouldn’t know where to start. Textual mentioned checking out nerdwallet and some other cites, but even just going to Chase . com or CaptialOne or Amex would get you plenty of options, find the one that works best for you. Back when I had debt, I used every trick in the book to keep my interest rate down. Calling every few months to get it lowered, transferring the balance between cards when they’d run ‘no interest on balance transfer’ specials probably a few other things. OTOH, know that I have no debt, I couldn’t even tell you what my interest rate is, it doesn’t matter, now I focus on rewards. Amazon is 5% back on all (most) Amazon purchases and 1% on everything else. Chase is 1% on everything and 5% on rotating categories. Amex runs all kinds of odd deals on points and I just check their site every few days. Oh, and while we’re at it, Ebates has been pretty good at handing you a few percent back as well. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/44 "2018-08-03T14:46:29Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Actually, some prospective employers run your credit. I’m not sure why; I don’t know if they think that people with a lot of debt are more likely to steal, or that people with debt or bad credit are a security risk of some sort. Or maybe they just don’t want creditors calling you at work. I never quite understood that either. I think you’re right in that if you have loads of debt, you’re more likely to steal or at the very least you shouldn’t work in departments that would go hand in hand with being good with money. Personally, I’ve never quite liked that. I recall when my parents fired their accountant because he (personally) declared bankruptcy. In their mind if he can’t handle his own finances, they didn’t want him handling theirs. OTOH, just because you screw up your own, doesn’t mean you don’t know _how_ to handle them properly. And who knows, maybe he got hit with a large medical bill or an expensive divorce. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/45 "2018-08-03T15:28:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Possibly, but she won’t be 18 for a few more years yet and all kinds of things can change between no and then. It’s just something I plan to do and here and there look into it. > I feel a bit bad when kids first start renting and have all kinds of issues finding someone who will lease to them, trying to get a car, trying to get a credit card all because they have no credit history, especially when (assuming you’re a financially responsible parent) it’s so easy to fix. That’s cool. And for some more info, I just did a quick search online, and there are a lot of cards that let you add someone under 18 as an authorized user. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/46 "2018-08-03T18:25:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If you are never going to want to borrow money, you don’t care what your credit score is. . This is very false. Nowadays Insurance companies and even potential jobs check your credit score to see what you rate is or whether you will get that job. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/47 "2018-08-03T21:26:21Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is very false. Nowadays Insurance companies and even potential jobs check your credit score to see what you rate is or whether you will get that job. That’s what happens when you were in the same job for 15 years - when I switched, there were no credit reports. Even longer since I’ve rented, and that was private. But as I said, I’m all in favor of building credit using cards responsibly. Even without employment checks, you never know when you are going to need credit. I wonder what the default credit score is? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/48 "2018-08-03T22:27:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is very false. Nowadays Insurance companies and even potential jobs check your credit score to see what you rate is or whether you will get that job. Employers don’t check your credit score. > **[Credit Check for Employment: What to Know - NerdWallet](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/credit-score-employer-checking)** > > A credit check for employment gives potential employers a shortened version of your credit report. It excludes some things, like your age and credit score. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/49 "2018-08-03T22:32:25Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Employers don’t check your credit score. > [https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/credit-score-employer-checking/](https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/credit-score-employer-checking/) Ok, they check your credit _report._ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/50 "2018-08-03T22:34:26Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Employers don’t check your credit score. > [Credit Check for Employment: What to Know - NerdWallet](https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/credit-score-employer-checking/) I think many people use ‘credit score’ and ‘credit report’ interchangeably. And considering many places don’t even use an actual FICO score, maybe the potential employer creates their own score. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003/51 "2018-08-05T13:42:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is very false. Nowadays Insurance companies and even potential jobs check your credit score to see what you rate is or whether you will get that job. When I was being assigned a purchasing card at work, I had to allow my employer access to my credit report first too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-credit-companies/819003.md?page=2)