My credit score is affected by what!?!?

In these times where credit is beginning to dry up, it almost comes as no surprise that it’s possible your credit score may be hurt by the types of transactions you make. But that doesn’t make it any less infuriating.

MSN reports that the Federal Trade Commission filed a law suit against card issuer CompuCredit for using purchasing patterns as a basis for cutting credit lines for card holders who visited certain establishments such as tire and retreading shops, massage parlors, bars, billiard halls and marriage counseling offices.

Most of us are familiar with the idea that our credit scores can be used for more and more things. If your credit history is bad, in many states you might pay more in auto insurance or worse, you might not qualify for a better job; my credit score been used as a qualifier for renting an apartment for as long as I can remember. But the thought that your card issuer may restrict your credit line because you shoot pool every Thursday night is a bit disturbing.

Possibly the biggest downer is that the FTC is not suing CompuCredit because they used purchases as a determinate of their credit line, but that they didn’t disclose that they were doing it. Has anyone ever really read through their Credit Card’s disclosure statements?

So depending on how frequently you visit the club – you might want to consider paying cash. I’m not sure how that works for our overseas purchases since half of the merchant categories for everything I buy are wrong or misleading to say the least. I know that my Mokpol on the corner of my street is listed as "Speciality Merchandise". One can only guess what U.S. merchants are also labeled as "Speciality Merchandise". Good luck.