Many people seem to consider their business credit cards are viewed differently by the bureaus than their personal cards. If you have a business credit card with one of the big card issuers be sure to treat is as well as you do your personal cards.  Even though they are presented as business cards, the card issuers still report you to the credit bureau as though it is a personal card. And the Credit Bureaus consider it a personal card too.

On the business card account, if you don’t pay off your card every month you will get a ding. Likewise, if you don’t pay off a portion of your revolving debt every 30 days your credit report (and therefore score) will be damaged. And, if you can pay off more than the minimum due every 30 days, the better for you and your credit score.

As you most likely know, you are entitled to a free credit report once a year. Many organizations purport to give you a free credit report but then sell you multiple other subscriptions which can be overwhelming. There is one website that is sponsored by Equifax, TransUnion and Experian called www.annualcreditreport.com which allows you to request a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the major bureaus. As they state on the website “Annual Credit Report is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report”.  Be careful accessing this report – you want to make sure you are going to the correct site – this is a secure (https://) site.

You can also receive a free credit score from organizations such as CreditKarma – www.creditkarma.com for a quick update on what is your current credit score.