By Naniyah McClain
Student Lifestyle Editor
The Women in Business Club hosted a “Credit Card Trivia Night” on Nov. 2 in the Rutherford Room.
Members of the Women in Business Club greeted guests at the door.
A presentation was set up and the first slide of the presentation read “Credit & College by Manny Perez.” Guest speaker, financial representative of TD Bank in Teaneck, Emmanuel Perez stepped up to the podium to introduce himself and begin talking about the importance of credit scores.
“Some of the most important decisions of your adult life (post-college) will involve your credit score in one way or another,” said Perez.
Those important decisions can include leasing an apartment, paying for utilities, insurance, buying a house and leasing or financing a car. Lenders will most likely give you a loan, depending on how good your credit is.
Building credit requires a student to secure credit cards or become an authorized credit card user, such as sharing a credit card with parent(s). Keeping small balances and paying off balances are very important methods to building a student’s credit.
“The advice that I like to give is keep small balances. Don’t ever spend more than what you earn,” said Perez.
According to VantageScore.com, a website used by credit lenders, 40% of your credit score is payment history, 20% is utilization, 11% are balances, 21% is the depth of credit, 5% is recent credit and 3% is the available credit. Most lenders use the percentage in this particular model.
One of the main things that a student should do is avoid being sent to collections.
“Collections is when you owe a bank or lender a balance that you haven’t paid in a long time. It is also when companies call you to pay money that you owe. It shows up on your credit history and has a big impact,” said Perez.
Pere shared that one of the main myths that he has heard in the past is “credit cards are bad,” when in reality, credit cards can improve your credit score, consolidate debt and help a credit card owner to receive special offers such as cash back, rewards, points and air miles.
After the presentation, students played a game of Kahoot which asked questions such as “What is the best way to increase your credit?,” “What isn’t a benefit of a credit card?” and “How many college students do not pay off the full balance on their cards?”
Three prize winners were able to pick prizes (notebooks, planners and stickers) based on their placing.
The president of the Women in Business Club, senior Lisa-Monet Jefferson, shared her thoughts about the importance of events such as the credit card trivia night.
“Events like this one are important for students because a lot of people are not given this information in class, high school or at home. It’s very important that this information that you’re given is correct and comes from reliable sources,” said Jefferson.
Many students walked away from the event with a fresh start by stepping in the right direction after a night of credit card trivia games.
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Students participate in credit card trivia Kahoot game
Photo by Naniyah McClain
