I visited the President's Choice Financial website to learn more about getting their bank account, and I discovered that the applicants are requred to enter their credit card number. Looked like non-negotiable. So I phoned the 800 number and asked about it. The employee on the other end said Yeah, just enter the number of any credit card that you have. I said, I don't. You don't what? Have a credit card at all. The woman almost fainted. (I couldn't really tell her that I spent not longer than three years in a capitalist society; that my teenage years were relatively free of credit card culture; that as a student in Canada I didn't really earn enough to have the need for a credit card and that now as an emloyee I don't see much point in having it either.) She just repeated several times "Let me get this straight, you have no credit at all?"

You see, we have to check applicants' credit with the Credit Bureau blah blah blah blah.

So is there a waiver for this information?

Um... errr... we really need to know your credit... We need this information... I am afraid no waiver...

I was one of the few people I knew who went through university without a student credit card (parents couldn't afford to cosign anyway) because I couldn't afford more debt than I had. When I got out and was gainfully employed, it took years to get a credit card because I was over 25 and didn't have a credit rating. Being divorced also made the mix worse for some reason, even though I was childless.

There are so many things you can't do without a card -- book a hotel room, rent a car... It's a complete bitch to travel without one.

I have only one card with a very low limit, which I keep paid off. That and a mortgage. And that by the skin of my teeth...

The Credit Bureau (there are actually a few under different names) are people who keep track of credit histories. Basically, there's an extensive database of bad debts and such. If you've had a history of late bills, or just not paid something, they have a record and will give you a rating as a good or bad risk to a creditor. You can see your credit bureau by contacting them, they'll print it off and send it to you. One can improve one's credit rating (but only to a degree) by paying off old debts and then getting written confirmation which you then send off to the credit bureau to have your credit history revised.

As well it is very easy for someone to screw your credit up. My wife and I spent over 6 months getting an asshole into court after he had placed a bad debt that never existed on to our credit report. Also late payments don't often show up on it unless you really go out to hose a company.

Lastly, it is by far smarter to use credit for the really big things in life. Like a mortgage or new car and to build a possitive credit rating.

We found one of the easiest ways was to pay for things like groceries with a major card and then deposit the money for it into the credit card account so that each month the bill was fully paid off.

The moment you don't pay off a credit card bill is the moment you sell your soul. Don't do it.

Another killer perk is to save your money. If you want to buy furnature or a car or what have you, put the money you would pay on a credit card into the bank. After the year or two has gone by you have estabilished to yourself that you are managing your money well and will not fall into the trap of credit spending. Not to mention that cool feeling of whipping out a wad of cash to pay for goods in full leaving the only obligation to the store to live up to warranty agreements.

Unfortunately, most people don't figure out the concept of saving to spend until after they've had a run-in with credit card debt and screwed up their credit rating to varying degrees.

The really stupid thing is, once you're in over your head, if you go the route of orderly payment of debt with a trustee (where you pay a settlement of so much on the dollar), you are in better shape than if you put the brakes on earlier, cancel the cards and pay them in full over time.

The other thing, too, is that if you are self-employed, your personal credit rating is key to getting a line of credit to cash-flow your business.

And there's that instant gratification thing with credit cards.... It's easier to spend money you don't have yet, 'cause it isn't real. And it's easy to ignore the interest factor -- too easy.

But, of course, a company won't extend credit without one.

But the fact is, most people who suddenly get into a job and get credit go a little wild with it. Not that I'm saying you would, but there's a tendency for that to happen with a lot of people. So unless you've had some bank loans and such, they don't know how you are about paying bills on time and such, and are therefore an unknown quantity, therefore a risk.

Like I said earlier, it's mental and somewhat arbitrary, but it has its own twisted logic.

[ April 19, 2002: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]

quote:

---

I think that by signing a credit application form, one is actually agreeing to a credit check. It may even be in the fine print.
But, of course, a company won't extend credit without one.

---

Your credit rating is your identity. It's the only identity you need, because the only way they want you - whether you're a country or a teeny little individual - is deep in debt, begging for more, and willing to work 12 hours a day, on any terms, to meet your financial obligations.

We're not talking about a dozen different subjects here: News is Politics is Media is Pop Culture is Earning and Spending. It's all part of the same thing. The 350 richest people in the world intend to own everything in the world. By the end of next year. By any and all means.