# No credit



## shooked1 (13 Sep 2011)

I don't have a credit card thus I don't have a credit score could that effect recruitment.


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## infantryian (13 Sep 2011)

Most 17 year olds don't have credit cards, yet they still manage to get in. Don't worry about it.


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## frank1515 (13 Sep 2011)

No credit is better than bad credit.


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## Sigger (13 Sep 2011)

You are not applying for a mortgage.
It is bad credit you want to avoid.


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## jeffb (13 Sep 2011)

Your credit score is more then just a credit card. It reflects any credit that you may have including cell phone contracts, lines of credit, car loans etc. As has been mentioned though no credit is not a problem.


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## Sillyak (20 Sep 2011)

jeffb said:
			
		

> Your credit score is more then just a credit card. It reflects any credit that you may have including cell phone contracts, lines of credit, car loans etc. As has been mentioned though no credit is not a problem.



It's actually a common misconception that cell phones or household utilities affect your credit. The only way they can affect your credit is if the cell phone company or utility company sells your debt to a collections agency. This is very rare as most cell providers have an internal collections department which do not affect your credit. The only thing that affects your credit is when a bank or lending agency give you a loan or advances you credit. e.g. Credit cars, car loan, mortgage ect. Paying or not paying your cell phone bill will have no effect on your score. Another thing that many people don't realise is that simply applying for a loan, whether it is granted or declined, will lower your credit rating by a couple points.

To the OP if you are curious go to equifax.ca pay your $25 and take a look at your score. It will give you a full report including what you should do to raise your score. If you are 18 get a credit card ASAP! A major factor of your credit score is how long your credit history is. The longer someone has advanced you credit and you have been responsible with said credit the better your score is.


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## Pusser (20 Sep 2011)

Sillyak said:
			
		

> If you are 18 get a credit card ASAP!



BS and nonsense!  You don't need a credit card or a credit record in order to join the CF (which is what is being implied here).  I had neither when I joined (they were more concerned with whether I liked girls).  The only thing that is of concern to a potential applicant is a BAD credit record.


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## dapaterson (20 Sep 2011)

Equifax and TransUnion will both provide a free credit report, once per year.  You'll have to dig a bit on their websites to find the forms and steps to follow, bu there's no need to pay them for a copy.


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## Sigger (20 Sep 2011)

If you mail in the form for the free reports you will receive only your credit history. Very plain jane.


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## Pistos (20 Sep 2011)

Sillyak said:
			
		

> If you are 18 get a credit card ASAP! A major factor of your credit score is how long your credit history is.



BS! You don't need to get a credit card and try to improve your score for the CF.

They will check your credit but what the CF is looking for is whether you are likely to become an administrative burden.  Do you have a history of handling money badly? Are there multiple creditors just waiting to harass you and by extension your employer?  That's the sort of thing they're interested in.  

Do I know what I'm talking about?   Well, when I enrolled I was fresh off bankruptcy proceedings; I had made my recruiter aware of the situation beforehand that - due to misfortune with a business and not negligence or mismanagement on my part - I would be filing and he told me to come back when the dust settled and proceedings where finished.  I couldn't have had a worse credit rating at enrollment but they were satisfied that I was generally a responsible person that wouldn't cause them administrative grief.

In the years following bankruptcy I've learned credit isn't necessary.  I have a MasterCard that's attached to my chequing account for things like booking hotel rooms.  I save up and pay cash for cars and major purchases and by doing so can negotiate better pricing.  I will concede that credit is usually necessary for real estate purchases but credible lenders will look at the big picture and your credit score will play a very small part in the decision to finance your home.

My $0.02


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## aesop081 (20 Sep 2011)

I joined not really knowing what a credit cards was.....let alone having one.


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## estoguy (24 Sep 2011)

Pistos said:
			
		

> BS! You don't need to get a credit card and try to improve your score for the CF.
> 
> They will check your credit but what the CF is looking for is whether you are likely to become an administrative burden.  Do you have a history of handling money badly? Are there multiple creditors just waiting to harass you and by extension your employer?  That's the sort of thing they're interested in.
> 
> ...



Very true... I'm in the application process and a few things came up credit wise.  What Pistos says is true - they want to make sure you are a responsible person about money.  If you did have credit problems they don't exclude you from being in the CF.  You just have to show that you are dealing with it in a constructive and responsible way.

Best of luck!


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## Sillyak (29 Sep 2011)

Pistos said:
			
		

> BS! You don't need to get a credit card and try to improve your score for the CF.
> 
> They will check your credit but what the CF is looking for is whether you are likely to become an administrative burden.  Do you have a history of handling money badly? Are there multiple creditors just waiting to harass you and by extension your employer?  That's the sort of thing they're interested in.
> 
> ...



I'm not stating you need a credit card or credit rating to join the CF. I'm saying get a credit card as soon as possible simply to get a better credit rating in general. Whether you want to join or not. Although a credit rating isn't everything it sure as heck doesn't hurt!


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## klink1983 (29 Sep 2011)

dapaterson said:
			
		

> Equifax and TransUnion will both provide a free credit report, once per year.  You'll have to dig a bit on their websites to find the forms and steps to follow, bu there's no need to pay them for a copy.



I had bad credit from putting myself through college. I had to pay it off before I joined the army. I basically went bankrupt (credit proposal) and I was admitted to the CF when I was clear of the proposal. 4 years later my credit is still iffy but better than before. Getting a card isn't a bad idea, but only get a card for $500. Use it for gas, and pay it 1 day after it is due. If you pay sooner eg. buy gas, go home and pay online immediately, it does nothing. Down the road when you want to buy yourself a new car or maybe a house, you need to have some sort of credit. (I am not an expert, but I have learned alot from my lesson the hard way)

My experience from trying to obtain a free credit report: I mailed a letter as well as called them and accomplished nothing. When I called I would never get a real person, just an automated phone system, and my repeat letters when un answered. Before I was able to get a card again, I borrowed my Dads card to do a credit check, I believe it was about $30....ish and gave me everything I needed to know. I check my credit every 6-8 months for my own information, and to watch for identity theft, its scary how easy someone else can become you.


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## Bart905 (30 Sep 2011)

I had a Debit card Rbc said since I'm a student I dont have to pay for their services. Then after I quit my job they started putting monthly fee's on my debit account I did not have money on my card and it kept on going minus on my debit card I paid after 3 months would that effect me at all ? Its paid off but like I was too lazy to pay it off since they trick me into it ..


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## cn (30 Sep 2011)

Bart905 said:
			
		

> I had a Debit card Rbc said since I'm a student I dont have to pay for their services. Then after I quit my job they started putting monthly fee's on my debit account I did not have money on my card and it kept on going minus on my debit card I paid after 3 months would that effect me at all ? Its paid off but like I was too lazy to pay it off since they trick me into it ..



Did you also quit school?


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## Bart905 (30 Sep 2011)

I did not quit school I was a full time student.


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## ballz (30 Sep 2011)

Here's the mail-in form for a free report from equifax if anybody is interested... thanks dapaterson for bringing it up, I did not know you could get one for free.

http://www.equifax.com/ecm/canada/EFXCreditReportRequestForm.pdf


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## Occam (30 Sep 2011)

And here's the mail-in form for a free credit report from TransUnion, which is the other credit reporting agency in Canada.

http://www.transunion.ca/docs/personal/Consumer_Disclosure_Request_Form_en.pdf


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## Neill McKay (30 Sep 2011)

klink1983 said:
			
		

> Getting a card isn't a bad idea, but only get a card for $500. Use it for gas, and pay it 1 day after it is due.



Maybe one day *before* it's due?


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## MikeL (30 Sep 2011)

Bart905 said:
			
		

> I had a Debit card Rbc said since I'm a student I dont have to pay for their services. Then after I quit my job they started putting monthly fee's on my debit account I did not have money on my card and it kept on going minus on my debit card I paid after 3 months would that effect me at all ? Its paid off but like I was too lazy to pay it off since they trick me into it ..



Did you call RBC too ask what the charges were for?  On some account types you have to pay a monthly fee, ie for XX amount of debit transactions allowed a month, and fees for going over that limit, etc.  Just because you have no money doesn't mean you will stop getting the monthly charges for your account to keep it.

Using the excuse you were lazy and you think the bank tricked isn't that good, especially when all it would have taken was a trip to the bank or a phone call to sort it all out.


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## cn (30 Sep 2011)

Bart905 said:
			
		

> I did not quit school I was a full time student.



As said a simple call to the bank would have straightened that out.  My girlfriend works for a bank and she reverses charges for people all the time, even when they don't deserve it (as in it was their own fault they were charged in the first place).  Not saying RBC would reverse the charges just that if you noticed you were being charged, you could eliminate future charges by being pro-active about it.  When it comes to money, your paycheque, savings, etc it litterally pays off to be on top of your finances.


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## Newyork (2 Oct 2011)

I dont have any credit, in either the states and in Canada.


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## MikeL (2 Oct 2011)

Newyork said:
			
		

> I dont have any credit, in either the states and in Canada.




Is there a question in there or just stating that you don't have credit?


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## Newyork (2 Oct 2011)

Pretty much stating that i dont have credit.


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## cn (2 Oct 2011)

Newyork said:
			
		

> Pretty much stating that i dont have credit.



See responses #1, 3, 6, etc in this topic alone.  Several others on the forum say the same.


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## aesop081 (2 Oct 2011)

Newyork said:
			
		

> I dont have any credit, in either the states and in Canada.





			
				Newyork said:
			
		

> Pretty much stating that i dont have credit.



So ?


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