If anything good has come from the epidemic of identity theft that has plagued so many in recent years, it might be that American consumers have finally caught on to an important truth; credit counts. And, as a result, they have learned how important it is to monitor their credit reports and their credit scores.

Government agencies and consumer groups have been vocal and effective in drilling this lesson home, aided by passage of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act which, last year, made it mandatory for the three major credit reporting agencies to each provide one free credit report each year to any vigilant consumer who requests one. Credit scores, generally called FICO Scores (the company which provides the formula and software for determining this benchmark is Fair, Issac Corporation) are not included in the Congressional mandate for free reports but FICO sells its scores and the three credit bureaus provide their own versions for a nominal fee.

Publish Date: 03/16/2006