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When I speak to people about credit reports and credit scores one of the things I always do is ask the audience members to raise their hands if they’ve requested their free annual credit report. Sadly, on a good night only about half the people in the audience raise their hands. A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) confirmed my simple surveys. Far too few people request their reports each year. At a minimum you should check your credit report at least once every 12 months. There are a lot of reasons to get it, and here are five: It’s free. Never pass up a freebie, especially when it can affects your financial health and well-being. Your credit report plays an important part in your credit transactions and many other financial relationships.  Get your annual credit report.  It’s an important step in rebuilding and maintaining good credit. Reviewing your credit report periodically will help you make sure it is in good shape when you are ready to apply for new credit and enable you to monitor your progress if you are recovering from past credit problems. Photo: Shutterstock It’s an important part of managing your personal finances. You should review your credit report just like you do your bank statements and credit card bills. Managing credit, keeping track of spending and putting aside savings are all essential to being financially successful. It’s often the first indicator that you are an identity theft victim. If you find names you don’t recognize, Social Security numbers that don’t belong to you, or accounts that aren’t yours, you might be a fraud victim. Experian and the other national credit reporting companies can help you stop the credit fraud and prevent future misuse of your identity. It’s the first step in correcting any information you feel is inaccurate. The vast majority of the time people find everything is accurate. But if you do find something wrong, your personal credit report comes with instructions for submitting disputes and contact information including a toll-free telephone number, Internet address and mailing address.

In today’s extremely competitive digital world, business analysts want information when they want it, the way they want it. Nowhere is this more evident than in the financial services sector, where the power of information helps risk and portfolio managers improve strategies and make better business decisions every day. With the introduction of IntelliView, never before have you had this amount of pertinent data at your disposal that can be categorized and evaluated according to specific needs. The tool can help you to optimize strategic planning, uncover new opportunities and improve decision making by having 24-7 online access to Experian’s aggregated quarterly consumer credit data. Data is available for seven lending categories including bankcard, retail card, automotive, first mortgage, second mortgage, home-equity lines of credit and personal loans. IntelliView data is sourced from the information that supports the Experian–Oliver Wyman Market Intelligence Reports and is easily accessed through an intuitive, online graphical user interface, which enables you to extract key findings from the data and integrate them into your business strategies. With today’s ever-changing market conditions and increased regulatory scrutiny, you require advanced tools for optimizing strategic planning and operational decision making. The reports available through IntelliView utilize aggregate credit data that has been predefined into the appropriate product and analytical groupings, taking the pressure off of your organization’s internal resources and allowing them more time for analysis. Learn more about IntelliView.

Experian, the leading global information services company, today announced that its vice president of public education, Maxine Sweet, was recognized by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) with its Making the Difference Award during the organization’s 47th Annual Leaders Conference in Charlotte, N.C., which took place Sept. 30–Oct. 3, 2012. Introduced in 2005, the NFCC’s Making the Difference Award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to assisting consumers with financial literacy, awareness and education, furthering the NFCC’s mission, vision and programs through a national presence. “Maxine Sweet personifies this award,” said Gail Cunningham, vice president of membership and public relations at the NFCC. “Her level of commitment, passion and knowledge combined with Experian’s financial education resources has made a remarkable impact on consumers’ lives.” “It is a true honor to receive an award with such great meaning,” Sweet said. “As a company, we strive to make a difference. Through the services we provide, the organizations we support and the communities we serve, we will continue to make financial education the heart of Experian.” The NFCC’s Annual Leaders Conference addresses relevant and timely topics affecting the credit counseling sector. Attendees convene to network and to learn more about the latest developments in the housing, bankruptcy, legislative and financial education sectors. Sweet and Rod Griffin, Experian director of public education, also conducted a Credit Ambassador workshop for NFCC educators and counselors at the conference. The workshop provided an overview on how to build or restore credit and what to do in case of fraud as well as discussed other consumer resources available from Experian.