WESST Blog

COVID-19 has changed the way many of us are dealing with our credit accounts. Suddenly we find our financial well-being affected by this health crisis. Below are a few tips to help you maintain good credit during and after this pandemic.

Reliably and safely check your credit score

There are a few ways to check your credit scores: To access your free credit report visit www.annualcreditreport.com, check with your credit card issuer, lender, or financial institution or download a credit app, such as Credit Karma.

Understand your business and personal credit

For small business owners, strong personal credit is essential to obtaining business credit, so keep tabs on your credit score and clean up any errors.
Assess any types of credit that might be open to you: loans, lines of credit, credit cards, etc.

When you apply for a loan, lenders assess your credit risk based on a number of factors, including your credit/payment history, income, and overall financial situation.

Be strategic in deciding when and how to take on additional debt

Be selective and strategic about new debt. The key to keeping your debt under control is picking a product that suits your needs and knowing how you’re going to pay it off.

Initiate and strengthen your banking relationships

Developing a strong relationship with your bank provides tremendous benefits including offering necessary funding, preferential rates, and better terms. Your bank can provide expert financial advice and help you to find solutions to financial challenges. It can also help you to grow your business and reach your financial objectives.

Set goals to check your credit’s progress

You can check your credit score as often as you’d like. Checking your credit score every two weeks is a great idea so you can keep track of any changes and monitor activity. It might be wise to check it more often if you have reason to suspect there is fraudulent activity on your account.

Summary

For additional resources and information, please join WESST consultants and trainers as we present the latest best practices, tips and techniques for building or maintaining a good credit score. Details can be found on the WESST website under Upcoming Training and Registrations.