The three national credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — have permanently extended a program that lets you check your credit report at each of the agencies once a week for free.

A low credit score can hurt your ability to take out a loan, secure a good interest rate, or increase a credit card spending limit.

On Friday, the three national credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, announced a joint industry measure to remove nearly 70% of medical collection debt accounts from consumer credit reports.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – No matter if they’re bad or good, credit scores affect everyone’s lives. Still, for many people, by the time they’ve learned the importance of having good credit, it may be too late. If you want to build credit but need some help living within your means, Svoboda recommends getting what’s called a secured credit card. But unlike a debit card, a secured credit card builds credit. Because a bad credit score doesn’t have to be a life sentence.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - With what seems like a new data breach every month, credit monitoring is a sound investment. Fortunately for active duty military and National Guard members, they won't have to pay. As of Oct. 31, three credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are provided the service completely free of charges. To take advantage of the program, just sign up for credit monitoring through each of the credit reporting firms. On each of their websites, there's a link for eligible service members:Experian | Equifax | TransUnionIt's that simple.

Under the current method, your credit score is mainly determined by how well you pay back your debts, including credit card and mortgage payments. By adding more criteria to how the credit score is calculated, young people with thin credit histories and those with low credit scores—about 100 million people—could see a modest improvement. One of the three big credit rating agencies, Experian, will soon offer what it calls Experian Boost, which will look at utility payments in determining your credit score. Even a small bump up in your credit score could make the difference between getting a credit card or mortgage or being turned down. Still, it's worth considering these options if you want to improve your credit history or don't have enough of one to qualify for a loan or credit card.