Category: Personal Credit

You may already know there are two kinds of credit reports that small business owners can build, utilize, and leverage for growth: your personal credit reports and your business credit reports. However, some business owners wonder what happens to their business credit once they open credit a few credit cards at one time. In this article, we'll shed some light on how multiple credit inquiries can impact your business credit scores. Two Kinds of Credit Reports Let's review the two… Read More

It took a while for Sheryl (not her real name) to realize the thousands of dollars she thought she was spending to help save her business was instead going straight into the pockets of a scammer. Disbelief turned to outrage and then to desperation. How could she get her money back? Sheryl remembered that she had identity theft insurance, and reached out to her provider in hopes that it would make her whole. She soon learned that identity theft and… Read More

Small business owners often rely on good credit to help sustain their businesses, and the recent Equifax data breach may put them at risk. The first class action has been filed nationwide against Equifax on behalf of small business owners “for its failure to safeguard consumers’ and small business owners’ personally identifiable information." According to the complaint, many of the 143 million individuals whose personally identifiable information was stolen in the recent Equifax data breach are also small business owners.… Read More

Small business owners can run into short-term cash flow problems even when business is good — and this means you may end up needing to max out your business credit card. Maxing out a credit card means you use the entire amount of your available credit, called your credit limit. Business owners may also need to max out a card if sales are lagging and you need to cover business expenses. Regardless of why you need to fully use your… Read More

News of a massive data breach of one of the three major consumer credit reporting agencies, Equifax, has many individuals wondering if they should “freeze” their credit reports to protect themselves from identity theft. If you are wondering the same thing, here’s a guide to credit freezes that can help you make that decision. What Is a Credit Freeze? A credit report freeze (or “security alert”) is designed to protect your credit data so it is less likely to be… Read More

It was bound to happen at some point: I became a victim of identity theft. After a 20+ year career writing and educating consumers about credit, including identity theft, I found myself on the other side of the story. I was alerted through credit monitoring that a new retail credit card had been opened in my name. While I had shopped at that store the day before, I most certainly had not opened an account. A phone call to the… Read More