Why should you monitor your credit profile?

Monitoring your credit profile: How and why should you do it? 

Your credit profile changes over time, and can go up or down depending on your spending habits. While you might only need your credit score when you apply for things like loans, credit cards, a mortgage or car financing, keeping on top of it can make it easier for you to make adjustments to improve it in time for those applications. 

Monitoring your credit score also stops it from being a shock. You might think you have a good credit profile, but the reality could be a little different. Regularly checking your credit profile will prevent any nasty surprises, giving you time to make any required changes and get your score up to scratch again. 

What is a credit profile?

A credit profile, sometimes called a credit report or credit history, is a review of all your borrowing habits. It keeps track of every time you’ve taken credit out, and how effectively you’ve paid it back, before giving you an overall score that shows future lenders how reliable you are. 

Here’s what your credit profile contains:

• Credit and store cards
  How many cards you’ve taken out, how much of your credit limit you’ve used up, and how well you’ve paid credit back. 

  
  

• Loans
  The amount of money you’ve borrowed, how often you’ve applied for a loan, and how you’ve managed your repayments.

  
  

• Overdraft usage
  Whether you’ve gone into your overdraft or not, whether it was arranged, and how well you’ve paid it off each month. 

  
  

• Car finance
  The way you’ve managed your monthly repayments. 

  
  

• Mortgages
  How consistent you’ve been at paying your mortgage back, and whether you’ve ever missed a payment or defaulted. 

  
  

• Credit usage
  How many different kinds of credit you’ve used and how much of your limit you’ve used up. 

  
  

• Credit applications
  The amount of times you’ve applied for any type of credit and how many times you’ve been accepted or rejected. 

Who can see your credit profile?

Your credit profile is only visible to people who have a legitimate reason to see it. This is generally people who you’ve applied to borrow money from or use a service from, who’ll need to check your credit score to see if you are a trustworthy customer. You can view your credit profile at any time, and doing this won’t affect your credit score. 

Here are some of the organisations that might have a valid reason to view your credit profile:

Lenders

If you apply for a loan or credit card, the lender will look at your credit report to see how well you’ve managed these in the past. This may dictate the deal they offer you, or whether they accept you at all. 

Mortgage providers

Mortgage providers will want to see how much money you bring in each month, how much you’re committed to spending, and how you’ve managed previous borrowing. This will show them if you can be relied upon to make your monthly mortgage repayments, and could affect your interest rate and deposit amount required.

Banks

When you apply for a new bank account, your bank will use your credit report to confirm you are who you say you are, and check the risk levels of having you as a customer. 

Utility providers

Gas, water and electricity providers technically work on a form of credit - you pay them back for a service they’ve already provided. They’ll look at your credit profile to see how you’ve managed previous repayments, and if you’ve ever struggled, they might put you on a prepayment meter instead. 

Employers

Certain jobs will ask to see your credit report as part of their screening process. This is more likely to happen if the job would involve you handling money, and you can refuse your employer permission to do this. 

Landlords

Landlords and letting agents may want to check your credit report to help identify you, and check your history of rent payments. 

What affects your credit profile? 

Your credit profile is impacted by your borrowing and repayment habits. For example, if you’ve taken out a credit card and paid it back on time, every time, this will have a positive effect on your credit profile. On the other hand, if you’ve taken out a loan and missed several repayments, this will have a negative effect on your credit profile. 

There are a few other things that come together to give you your overall credit score:

• Your payment history

• The amount of money you owe

• How long you’ve used credit for

• How many different types of credit you’ve used

• The amount of times you’ve applied for credit
  
  
  

How you can check your credit profile

You can check your credit profile for free on the Boshhh Mobile app (available on iOS and Android), and you don’t even need to take out one of our credit building SIMs to do it. You can also check it for free with credit reference agencies such as Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. 

Checking your credit score counts as a ‘soft hit’ on your profile. Unlike ‘hard hits’ - when you apply for credit or any other kind of financing - these won’t impact your overall score, so you can check your credit profile as often as you like without worrying. 

Five simple ways to improve your credit score

Register on the electoral roll

Registering on the electoral roll shows lenders that you live at a fixed location, even if that’s in shared accommodation or at your parents’ home. 

Build your credit history

If you’ve never applied for credit before, you’ll have no credit history, meaning lenders can’t see how reliable you are. 

Make regular repayments

Paying off what you owe each month will show lenders that you can be trusted with their money. 

Stick to your limits

Only spending a lower percentage of your credit limit - ideally below 30% - will show lenders that you don’t purely rely on credit to afford your monthly outgoings. 

Use Boshhh Mobile

Our credit building SIMs help boost your credit score every time you make a payment. It’s as easy as choosing the right plan for you, signing up and getting started.