Consumer knowledge of the potential impact from credit scores remains low, and on some issues has declined in recent years, according to a study by the Consumer Federation of America and Washington Mutual.

“Consumers who have obtained their credit scores know more than those who have not,” said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the CFA. “But overall, consumer understanding of credit scores is poor and has not improved over the past two years.”

The percentage of consumers aware that homeowners insurers consider credit scores when pricing coverage remained constant between 2005 and 2007 at 57 percent, “despite widespread press coverage of the issue,” Mr. Brobeck noted.

The CFA last surveyed consumer knowledge of credit scores in August 2005, and the most recent study is the third the group has conducted.

Mr. Brobeck said the group had found improvement in public knowledge between the first and second studies, and had been hoping the most recent study would again make for a “good news” press conference. “We were hoping for improvement the third time, but there wasn't and that's disappointing,” he said.

There were some gains in knowledge reflected in the study, albeit only slight ones.

o The percentage of consumers surveyed who knew the specific meaning of a credit score–which is the indication of the risk of a consumer not repaying a loan–rose from 27 percent to 29 percent.

o Similarly, the percentage of consumers who knew the three national credit bureaus–Experian, Equifax and TransUnion–rose from 45 percent to 47 percent.

“The good news is that there has been improvement in some areas,” said Anthony Vuoto, president of credit card services for Washington Mutual. He added, however, that “there continues to be ample room for improvement.”

While there were some gains in knowledge, there were also increases in the number of consumers with mistaken beliefs about credit scores.

o The percentage of consumers who incorrectly believed income influences their credit scores rose from 69 percent in the August 2005 results to 74 percent.

o Those who believe their age is a factor in determining credit scores rose from 38 percent to 41 percent.

o Those who mistakenly believe education affects their score rose from 25 percent to 32 percent.

Knowledge of who is using scores, outside of financial institutions, remained relatively steady, the study indicated.

The percentage of consumers who were aware that electric utilities make use of scores rose from 34 percent to 37 percent since 2005, and those who were aware of the use of scores by landlords rose from 54 percent to 55 percent.

Special Reports /

Majority Of Public Remains Clueless About Credit Scoring

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