Many Sallie Mae student loan borrowers have seen a drop in their credit scores in the past week. It seems there was an error when the lender was reporting data to the credit bureaus. Possibly one million accounts were reported delinquent when they were actually on time. The error happened to borrowers who have the graduated repayment plan.

Even though Sallie Mae tried to stop the data transfer, the erroneous data made it into Equifax's system and onto borrowers' credit reports.

If you have a Sallie Mae student loan, check your Equifax credit report to make sure your payment history and any comments are correct. You can order a free credit report from www.annualcreditreport.com. You can dispute any inaccurate information online by following the instructions included with your report.

Sallie Mae will provide a credit reference for borrowers who plan to apply for credit or loans before their credit report and score reflects the update. Contact Sallie Mae at 1-888-2-sallie.

Source: CNN Money

Identity theft is something you never want to deal with. It can seem like forever trying to clear your name once someone has opened accounts with your information or charged up your stolen credit cards. Like a stitch in time, anything you can to do keep your identity safe is well worth it.

Since opening credit accounts usually requires a credit check, you can protect your identity by putting security freeze on your credit report and score. When you do this, the credit bureaus can't release your credit information without your permission. Freezing your reports costs anywhere from free to $60 depending on your state and whether you're already a victim of identity theft. Read more...Security Freeze for Identity Theft Protection.

Credit cards and loans typically require a payment every month. Knowing this, you should be prepared to make the payment. However, there are many people who, for one reason or another, put off their debt payments until another time.

Skipping a credit card payment might make it easier to manage your bills this month, but it's like moving the weight from one side of the scale to another. Your bill payments next month will be a little heavier. Since most banks add late payment fees to past due balances, your next payment will more than double. Unless your income increases or your expenses decrease next month, you'll likely encounter the same problem.

If it seems you can't make your debt payments in a particular month, it's best to look harder in your budget for the money. Putting off payments leads to bad credit and debt. Read More... The Effects of Late Credit Card Payments.

In the wake of the credit crunch, rising delinquencies, and (possibly) tighter rules, credit card companies are closing out some customers' credit cards in an attempt to save money, according to a recent SmartMoney.com article. This is a move you don't want to happen, especially if you plan to apply for credit or loan in the future.

Closing a credit card is never good, and often bad, for your credit score. It doesn't matter if you close it or the bank closes it. The effect is still the same. (See How Closing a Credit Card Affects Your Score.

There may be some things you can do to keep your card open. For one, make your payments on time. Delinquencies cost banks. With regulators seeking to end some interest rate hikes, the creditor won't be able to make extra money by hiking your interest rate. Also, sure you're using the card. If you're not making money for the bank, they have no reason to keep you as a customer. Heed warnings about pending closures. Your creditor might write to give you a chance to keep your card. If you get the chance, take it.

SmartMoney: Credit-Card Companies Shut Down Consumers' Lines

The Feds recent proposal to end double billing cycle finance charges strikes a question many people don't know the answer to: How are your finance charges calculated?

If you don't know the answer, look on the back of a recent credit card statement. You can typically find the finance charge computation method there. If you don't find it, call the customer service number on the back of your card and ask.

6 Ways Finance Charges Are Calculated

Most people can tell when it's time to cut fattening foods like cakes and pies from our diets. Tight pants on an expanding waist line are a clear giveaway. Do you know how to tell when your credit needs a diet?

For some, it takes a call from a debt collector for them to realize something's wrong with their credit usage. If you wait that late, severe damage has already been done to your credit.

Monitor your credit more closely to recognize when you should cut back. For hints your credit needs a diet, read 10 Signs of Credit Card Debt.

More on Managing Credit Card Debt:

• 7 Tips to Stop Using Credit Cards
• How Many Credit Cards is Too Many?
• Dos and Don'ts of Using Credit Cards

Federal regulators have proposed new rules for credit card companies. If passed, these rules will cut down on the unfair and often costly practices credit card companies have in place. The proposed rules include:

• Borrowers will be given at least 21 days to make payment. Consumers often end up with late payments because of the short amount of time between receiving their billing statement and the payment due date.



• Credit cards can't unfairly allocate payments to balance with different interest rates. Often different types of balances, e.g. balance transfers vs. purchases, have different interest rates. Credit cards typically first allocate payment toward balances with lower interest rates, ultimately causing the consumer to pay more in finance charges.



• Creditors can't raise interest rates on balances incurred in the past.



• No more over the limit fees because of a hold on the account. In certain types of transactions, like at-the-pump gas purchases, the merchant authorizes the account for a higher amount than what's actually charged. Until that hold is released, your creditor treats it as you've already spent the money and could determine future purchases as over the limit. This also applies to overdraft fees on debit card accounts.



• Double billing cycle finance charges will be eliminated. This is the most costly method of computing finances charges and can lead to consumers paying interest on balances that have already been paid.



• No more "deceptive offers of credit." If a bank offers you a credit card with a low rate, it would need to disclose what you need to do to get that interest rate.

If they're put into place, do you think the rules would cut down on your credit card cost? What other rules would you like to see made for credit card companies?

Related News Articles:

• The Associated Press: Fed OKs plan to rein in unfair, deceptive credit cards
• The Red Tape Chronicles: Regulators Target Credit-Card Shenanigans
• CNN Money: Fed moves on credit card crackdown

TODAY will open a debt hotline on Monday, May 5 from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Credit counselors from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling will be available to to answer your debt questions. For free! The number is 866-NBC-1444.

MSNBC makes the announcement and answers some of the most common debt questions: Call TODAY's debt hotline for free help.

Do you know how many credit scores you have? If you answered one, unfortunately, you're wrong. As revealed in FICO vs. FAKO you have quite a few credit scores, each of which could be different. Even the most widely-recognized FICO score has a few different "flavors" and generations, as discussed in a recent SmartMoney.com article, Not All Credit Scores Created Equal.

Depending on the type of credit a consumer seeks — a mortgage, installment loan, auto loan or credit card, for example — lenders will use different "flavors" to determine a consumer's default risk. Auto-loan payments, for example, weigh more heavily in the formula that calculates a FICO score for auto lenders, while credit-card payments matter more to the FICO used by credit-card companies.

The article goes on to say that new generations of FICO scores are released that lenders may or may not decide to use. These different generations and "flavors" of scores aren't available for consumers. So, the credit score you have, whether it's a FICO or FAKO, probably isn't the one the bank is using to approve your application.

Since most lenders use some version of the FICO score, it's best to use that score to gauge your creditworthiness. But, don't be surprised if the lender pulls a score that's different from the one you have.

More on Credit Scores:

• The Credit Score Calculation
• 15 Credit Score Killers
• 10 Things to Improve Your Score Today

Just when I revealed some of credit cards' dirtiest tricks, one of my credit cards pulled a trick of its own.

With this month's GAP card (backed by GE Money) statement came changes to my cardholder agreement. One of the changes is the way payments are processed. Payments made after 5:00 pm on a business day will be posted on the next business day. Payments made on non-business days will also be posted on the next business day (as if I have control over the day and time the mail gets delivered and opened at their payment processing center).

Paying over the phone and online are both payment methods that are available and of which I DO have control. However, the cardholder agreement provisions for a fee for both those methods. The amount of the fee isn't included. With gas and food prices on the rise, I'd rather not pay to make a credit card payment.

The trickiest thing of all - next month's payment is due on a Saturday. If I made payment on that date, it would not be posted until the following Monday which would make me late and subject me to a late fee and the default interest rate. You just gotta love credit card companies. Fortunately, I plan on paying via my bank's online bill pay well in advance of the due date.

Folks, read your credit card agreements. Know how your credit card processes payments, what constitutes a late payment, and when you're subject to the default interest rate. If you don't understand the language, make a post in the Credit / Debt Management forums and one of your fellow readers or I will help you out.