Bad Score

A 100-point swing in your FICO score can change the interest rate on a $30,000 auto loan by roughly four percentage points—and quietly cost you over $3,000 in interest across a five-year term.

You need money. Maybe it's a car repair that can't wait, a medical bill that showed up out of nowhere, or rent that's due before your next paycheck lands. You go to apply for a personal loan — and your credit score is sitting somewhere around 560. Or 590. Or maybe you don't even know what it is, and that's part of the problem.