What Is My Credit Score And How Can I Obtain My Credit Report?

If you are thinking that you might apply for a bad credit rating credit card, you should make sure you know the state of your credit rating. There is not much point applying for a credit card that you will be refused, as this will only undermine your credit score even further.

Your credit score starts the moment you take your first line of credit, or open an account that depends on you receiving a service upfront that you subsequently have to pay for. This will include utilities such as gas, water or electricity, or a mobile phone contract. Clearly, any mortgage or credit card you own will impact your credit rating, either positively or negatively depending on how you are handling your repayments.

This is the type of information contained in a credit file:

• Personal details such as name, residential address, date of birth and drivers licence number
• Any credit applications and enquiries you have made during the past five years
• Records of your current credit accounts, including the total level of credit you have available, and how much of that is remaining to be used
• Overdue accounts which may have been listed against your name; in other words, any accounts you are considered to be defaulting on
• Information on bankruptcy
• Court judgements on financial matters
• Public record information such as Directorships

The point of a credit file is so that banks, retailers and credit providers can decide whether to lend you money or not. It sums up your reputation as a borrower, and uses behaviour modelling systems to analyse your past and current actions to predict how you might behave in the future. This means that any application for a bad credit rating credit card will be based not just on your credit history, but on the potential for you to either improve or degenerate. You may have had an immaculate history up until a few months ago, but if your profile has started to slide, that could have serious consequences for your borrowing options.

The main credit bureaus in Australia are Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet. To gain access to your credit file through either of these bureaus will require a fee of around $30. This is a small price to pay if it enables you to more accurately assess how well-received a credit card application from you will be. If your credit rating looks bad, you will at least have some idea of how far off the mark you are, and the type of steps you might take to restore your rating to the level where an application would be successful. Even bad credit rating credit cards require that you have a reasonable and steady income and that your rating is not too low.

• Comparison of Top 10 Credit Card Offers

Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards

Credit Card	Card Details	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Interest free days (up to)
HSBC Credit Card	Editor's Choice: 0% for 6 months Balance Transfer & No Annual Fee Featuring a $0 annual fee for life, and 0% p.a. balance transfer for 6 months, the HSBC Credit Card was voted the Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010.	16.99%	20.75%	0% for 6 months	$0	55
Suncorp Clear Options Standard Visa Card	A great 12 month balance transfer offer, combined with a low annual fee and a good interest rate on purchases.	12.24%	17.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$39	0