Kweenie got a surprise in a recent credit report:

heyyyy it looks like there’s a macy’s card in my credit report what is this nonsense.

Her tweet highlights one of the reasons it’s smart to get a credit report: to know exactly what credit you have.

Credit reports have a number of uses, but knowing about your credit types is a key advantage of monitoring your credit. By knowing what credit you have, you can estimate how it affects your credit rating and credit score and know what options you have to improve them both. It’s easy to be taken surprise by credit you didn’t know you had or have forgotten about.

In addition to learning about credit you have forgotten about, a credit report can also alert you to identity theft. If someone signed up for credit under your name, you can find out and take action. By controlling your credit, you can ensure you know when it’s being used and who is using it.