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One day you look up and you realize, it’s happened, you’re an adult. You file taxes, you vote, you’re an independent member of society. The moment has come. You should find out what your credit score is.
What if I don't want to know my credit score?
Breathe. It’s actually easy to check your credit score. This is information about your finances that you’ll need to know when you’re applying for credit like a credit card, car loan or house hunting.
What exactly is a credit score?
A credit score is a number that evaluates a person’s creditworthiness. It’s essentially an objective snapshot of your past financial history that helps lenders evaluate how likely it is that you will repay a loan. In Canada, your credit scores range from 300 up to 900 points (which is the best possible score).
What’s a good credit score?
Ideally, you want your credit score to be in the 700 to 900 range; typically, the higher the score, the better. Each lender decides which credit score range it considers a good or poor credit risk. It’s important to remember that your credit score is only one component of the information that lenders may use to evaluate what could be a credit risk.
What do you need a good credit score for?
Having a good credit score goes beyond helping you get a loan for your house. It can help with things like being able to rent an apartment, lease a car or start a new business.
I heard checking your credit score can lower it!
Good news – checking your credit score doesn’t have to affect the number. Find out if the service you are using to check your score counts as a ‘hard inquiry’ or a ‘soft inquiry.’ Hard inquiries usually happen when a financial institution checks your credit report to make a lending decision, like approving you for a mortgage or a credit card. Soft inquiries are when a person or company checks your credit report for a background check, like an employer before they officially hire you. Hard inquiries can slightly lower your credit score; soft inquiries don’t have any effect on it. There are great options to checking your credit, like the CreditView℠ service from TransUnion®*, made available to you through Scotiabank,1 that count as a soft inquiry so it won’t impact your score.
I checked my credit score a couple years ago, so I’m set
Credit scores can change over time. It’s good to keep up-to-date with your credit score. You can change your habits if you see that your score is falling or build on your positive habits if it is going up.
Does having a credit card hurt your score?
Properly managing your credit cards is actually a good way to improve your credit score. Especially when you are first starting out, you need to build a credit history. Paying off your monthly credit card on time may help you build a positive credit history.
Do I need a high income to have a high credit score?
Your credit score is based on regular timely payments, not income. You can have a great credit score if you keep on top of your payments and make sure you make them on time.
If I have a bad credit score, can I fix it?
Yes, absolutely, by managing your credit better, you should be able to improve your score over time. There are a few key ways you can help improve your credit score:
- Create a monthly budget: list out your expenses and income to see where your biggest expenses are coming from. For your credit cards, make sure you make at least your minimum payment each month.
- Consider installment plans to help you manage your monthly payments: Installment plans, like Scotia SelectPay TM, are a flexible way to pay for purchases on your card in fixed monthly installment payments of 3, 6 or 12 months, with no interest and a low fee. These fixed monthly payments for our SelectPay installments might help you be in a better position to make your payments on time.
- Be punctual: set reminders to help you make sure you pay your bills on time so that your lenders get the payments by their due dates. Consistently late payments have a very negative impact on your score.
- Watch your debt: Keep your account balances below 30% of your available credit. For example, if you have a credit card with a $1,000 limit, try to keep the outstanding balance below $350.
So how can I check my score?
Scotiabank customers can check theirs by using the CreditView from TransUnion® – accessible through the Scotiabank mobile app and through ScotiaOnline. Through this service, Scotiabank customers can check their score, learn tips to improve it and sign up for monthly updates from TransUnion®.
At this time, the Scotia SelectPay feature is not available to Quebec residents.
The Bank of Nova Scotia is not responsible for the CreditView service from TransUnion.
Scotia SelectPay is an installment plan feature (the “Plan” or “Installment Plan” or “SelectPay”) made available on eligible personal Scotiabank Visa credit card accounts (the “Eligible Account(s)”) that allows primary cardholders to convert an eligible credit card purchase of at least CDN$100 posted to the Eligible Account to an Installment Plan with monthly payments over a fixed payment (the “Installment Payment Period”) with a fixed interest rate (currently 0% interest rate) during the Installment Payment Period and an Installment Fee that applies to that Plan (the “Installment Fee”). The Installment Fee may vary per Plan and will be disclosed to you at the time you select the Plan.
Interest does not accrue during the Installment Plan but any unpaid remaining balance on your Installment Plan ( (the “Remaining Installment Amount Balance”) after the Plan ends or is cancelled by you or us will be re-applied to the balance on your Eligible Account. Your Remaining Installment Amount Balance is again eligible for an interest-free grace period. You will not pay interest on that Remaining Installment Amount Balance if we receive payment of the full balance (the “New Balance”) that appears on your statement in the month in which we re-applied your Remaining Installment Amount Balance to your Eligible Account. If you lose your interest-free grace period on the Remaining Installment Amount Balance, any applicable interest will then apply at the annual interest rate that applies to Purchases on your Eligible Account on that amount from the date of expiration or cancellation of the Installment Plan until the amount is paid in full.
Your Eligibility to convert an Eligible Purchase to an Installment Plan and the terms made available to you are subject to Scotiabank’s assessment at the time you request toconvert your Eligible Purchase to a Plan. SelectPay is only available through the Scotia mobile banking app to primary cardholders on an Eligible Account (with no co-borrowers).
See the full Terms and Conditions for eligible Scotiabank Visa cards, eligible purchases and additional SelectPay terms and conditions. All SelectPay rates, fees and terms are subject to change.
