What is the definition of credit history?
A credit history is a financial profile. It lets lenders know how you have managed money in the past and let them decide whether to do financial buisness with you or not. The credit history will tell:
- How many credit cards and loans you have made and if you have paid it on time.
- How well you have paid your other bills such as rent and utilities.
- The total of your outstanding debts.
What is the company in charge of the credit history?
The Zek company is in charge of recording all the informations regarding all the credits activities of the private people in Switzerland. While you are requesting a loan towards a credit agency or a bank the first thing the company will do is to check about you and see if you are solvable to be lent money or not. Here are some ZEK entries as example:
- 01 code: the balance on your credit has been reported on an other bill
- 02 code: you have made regular payment linked to the credit
- 03 code: your payment have been long or late
- 04 code: special measure (prosecution, agreements etc..)
- 05 code: lost of money due to your record (bad payments)
- 06 code: legal uncertainty for you (very rare)
- Code related to bills or credit cards:
- 21 code: your credit cards has been blocked
- 22 code: your balance is being paid.
- 23 code: lost: indentical to 05 code for the credits.
How to avoid a bad credit history?
There are many different reasons you may have a bad credit history which can make difficult for you to borrow money when you need to. There are simple things you can do to keep your credit clean:
- Pay your bills on time: avoid making late payments or any debts
- Pay your credit cards at full at the end of the month
- Don’t make too many loan requests
- Avoid bankruptcy.
Call on a specialist !
If you have some financial problem and you want to clear your credit history, the best way is still to call on a specialist. He could provide you some useful advice for free and help you to improve your credit scoring towards the ZEK.
