Know your credit reports from your credit scores? Take our quiz to find out

Do you know your credit reports from your credit scores?  Your APRs from your CCJs? Find out whether you’re a personal finance guru with this quick quiz!

Eyes down, let’s begin…

#1. What does APR stand for?

1. Annual Percentage Rate
2. Actual Payment Result
3. Annual Payment Rate

#2. The following quote refers to what important part of your financial fingerprint?

‘A detailed breakdown of your credit history prepared by a credit bureau. Credit bureaus collect information and create breakdowns based on that information, and lenders use these breakdowns to get in-depth information about your financial history when you apply for a loan.’

 

1. Credit scores
2. Credit reports
3. Repayment history

 #3. Which of the following doesn’t appear when lenders check your credit report?

1. Annual salary
2. Previous addresses
3. Registration on the electoral roll

#4. Are interest rate and APR the same thing?

1. Yes. There’s no difference at all.
2. No. APR refers to the total you’ll pay back — usually the interest rate plus any charges that occur.

#5. A guarantor loan can help people with a less-than-perfect credit score because…

 

1. It gives them access to better loan offerings.
2. It makes them a safer bet in the eye of the lender.
3. It helps them borrow amounts that they perhaps wouldn’t have been offered before.
4. All of the above.

#6. Based on credit reports, credit scores gives an indication of how likely you are to be able to repay your debts, but is there one universally accepted UK credit score?

 

1. Yes. There are three main credit reference agencies, but they contribute to one credit report and one credit score.
2. No. The three bureaus — Experian, Equifax and CallCredit — all give difference credit scores based off of the same credit report.

#7. A loan that requires no collateral is known as…

 

1. A personal loan
2. An unsecured loan
3. A mortgage

#8. Can taking on debt ever improve your credit score?

 

1. No. All debt hurts your credit score in some way.
2. Yes. Although taking on more debt can hurt your credit score in the short term, a history of regular repayments can help your score in the long term.

#9. Which of the following would not be considered good debt?

1. A student loan
2. A business loan
3. A holiday loan

No peeking before you’re done! Here are the answers!

• Annual Percentage Rate
• Credit reports
• Annual salary
• APR refers to the total you’ll pay back — usually the interest rate plus any charges that occur.
• All of the above
• The three bureaus — Experian, Equifax and CallCredit — all give difference credit scores based off of the same credit report. (If you got this wrong, check out our credit score explained article.)
• An unsecured loan
• Although taking on more debt can hurt your credit score in the short term, a history of regular repayments can help your score in the long term.
• A holiday loan

How’d you do?

1-3: Nice try! There were quite a few tricky ones in there.

4-7: Great work! Although one or two might have stumped you, you knocked it out of the park.

8-9: Show off! You’re a proper personal finance guru, eh? Very impressive.

At Bamboo, we believe that personal finance doesn’t have to be boring and dry, so we’ve put together a whole host of easy-to-read articles on a whole host of personal finance topics, from loans and borrowing to frugal living and DIY. Head over to Bamboo blog to check them all out

• 
• Author The Bamboo Team
• Posted 16 January 2019