What is a credit report? A credit report lists your credit history, as well as information on your residence history (where you've lived), buying history (your bills and how you pay), judgments against you (have you been sued, imprisoned, arrested for financial reasons) and whether you've been bankrupt or not. All financial details are in this report.

How important it is? A credit report determines whether a financial firm (a bank, credit card company etc) will process or grant whatever it is that you requested. A credit report is unbiased ? it will just list details but it will never make a judgment whether it's ?bad? or ?good?

A Bad Credit report is usually deemed ?bad? because:

Who makes the credit report. Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) or a credit bureau collects the information and charges a fee every time an inquiry is made.

Needless to say, whether you're applying for a loan, credit card or a free merchant account, you'll be needing a credit report. Here are some tips to make your credit report look dashing:

Maintaining a good credit report is difficult, but with discipline, a bit of scrimping, and common sense all be worth it in the end when you finally get that loan, or that card, or that merchant account free of any hassles.