One of the biggest advantages of online credit reports is the convenience of being able to look at it on your own computer in the comfort of your own home. It can be done in minutes and is obtained through a third party, such as through Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion or through a reporting agencies' own website. It is easy to do, you simply enter your personal information and answer any questions they may ask about your past and the credit report is yours!

You will need to pay for reports from the three, third party companies and you will need a report from each for a complete credit history. These may cost about $9 per report. However, this is a small price to pay for the comfort of knowing that your finances are in order and that no one is attempting to use your personal details to open credit accounts. These reports may be sent by mail or can be obtained online. It is worth looking at these credit-monitoring companies websites since they may have trial offers where they offer you a free credit report. This would allow you to obtain your report and you can cancel your account with them before you need to make any payments.

You will also receive your FICO score with the report, along with some advice on how you can improve this score. FICO is named from Fair Isaac Corp., which is the company that invented the score. It is a three-digit number that encompasses your entire financial history. This score is based on information from the three, credit monitoring companies and includes all information from your payment history from loans or credit cards to bankruptcy filings that have been made. The lower the score the better your credit history and it is surprisingly important since many business that you would never imagine needing it, use it to find out about your financial status. Obviously lenders use the FICO score to assess you as a potential borrower. However, did you know that employers may access your score as well as landlords who may wish to see if you are likely not to pay your rent and if they need you to put down a larger deposit, or even insurance companies. These companies use the score to assess the risk you may be as a potential client and there fore set the policy prices accordingly.

As you can see, the FICO score is used by many different people who want an idea of your finances. It may not be entirely accurate, but it is most often used due to its ease of use, as most companies won't want to read numerous credit reports of all the people that they deal with. It is therefore critical that you do everything you lower the score and keep it as low as possible. Many years of buying on your credit cards without having the money to pay off the account can leave you with a high number that will be held against you long after you have forgotten what you bought. But there are ways that you can improve your credit rating and therefore FICO score. First of all, always dispute things that are not accurately depicted on the report. For example, if there is a record of late payments on a credit card account but you don't think it is true contact the creditor and credit agency by post. They will have to investigate the matter and if the creditor does not get in touch within 14 days, the bad credit will be dropped from your report, instantly improving your score. Easy isn't it! In fact, disputing any mistakes is the easiest and most direct way to lower your score.

Other ways your FICO score may be lowered include spreading the cost of your credit card debts especially with the increase in 0% on balance transfer deals that are available today. Also, close any accounts that you are not using.

Since your credit score has such a strong influence during your life, it is advisable that you obtain a report once a year so you can check for any mistakes and make sure that you are doing everything possible to improve your rating. This is the first step you can take to ensure that you have a solid financial future.