What you buy and where you shop may affect your credit scores.
As credit card companies continue to tighten their lending standards on card users, some are using purchasing data — gleaned from millions of card transactions processed daily — to weed out who may or may not be good credit risks.
Have you used your credit card at merchants specializing in secondhand clothing, retread tires, bail bond services, massages, casino gambling or betting? Your credit card issuer may be taking note — and making decisions about your creditworthiness based on your purchasing behavior. Buying used clothing or retread tires, for example, may be an indication of financial distress and a preamble to missed credit card payments or defaults......read more
