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That is interesting. Do banks have any way of telling how much debt someone has? Are credit cards very common there? Many Americans have so much debt that le

That is interesting. Do banks have any way of telling how much debt someone has? Are credit cards very common there? Many Americans have so much debt that lenders are very interested in the whole picture when they consider making a new loan. Old debt do drop off American credit reports, too. For most bad marks, they only stay on for 7 years (10 for bankruptcy). I don't know how long paid off loans are reported, but they generally have no negative impact (but might impact privacy). see this blog post http://blog.readyforzero.com/how-long-does-a-bad-mark-stay-on-your-credit-report/ http://blog.readyforzero.com/how-long-does-a-bad-mark-stay-o... EDIT: Even though bad marks are supposed to stay on only for seven years, the industry is very scummy and will often try to keep the bad marks on your report longer, requiring you to take action sometimes to actually get it cleared off. The CRA's and debt collectors don't follow the law, and we certainly need better enforcement of the laws.

bbarn 9y ago
Yes, the reselling of debt just moves it around and pretends like it's new debts, for new amounts, unless someone fights it tooth and nail.
cr1895 9y ago
>Are credit cards very common there? Much less prevalent than in the US. There are much fewer cash back/air miles/etc credit cards...actually, literally the only I'm sure exists is that for the department store De Bijenkorf. There may of course be more I haven't seen before. Debit cards are the dominant payment method. Credit cards are most useful for things like hotels abroad, online shopping abroad (w/n Netherlands there is the iDeal payment system for online shopping). It's not uncommon to find shops that will not accept them.
- ensignavenger 9y ago
  If there is substantially less consumer debt in the Netherlands, that could explain the difference in credit risk. It could be small enough there that banks just don't worry about the total load, and trust consumers to fully disclose things on their loan application.

bbarn 9y ago

Yes, the reselling of debt just moves it around and pretends like it's new debts, for new amounts, unless someone fights it tooth and nail.

cr1895 9y ago

>Are credit cards very common there? Much less prevalent than in the US. There are much fewer cash back/air miles/etc credit cards...actually, literally the only I'm sure exists is that for the department store De Bijenkorf. There may of course be more I haven't seen before. Debit cards are the dominant payment method. Credit cards are most useful for things like hotels abroad, online shopping abroad (w/n Netherlands there is the iDeal payment system for online shopping). It's not uncommon to find shops that will not accept them.

ensignavenger 9y ago
If there is substantially less consumer debt in the Netherlands, that could explain the difference in credit risk. It could be small enough there that banks just don't worry about the total load, and trust consumers to fully disclose things on their loan application.