Mary Holm: Credit check can help lower your investment risk

Credit ratings are not like marks for a high school essay, where a B was pretty good. A credit rating of B means there's a one-in-five chance the institution will default over five years. Photo / 123RF

I am constantly looking to find the best term-deposit rates when my savings, which are split between banks, mature.

When I search www.depositrates.co.nz, I notice there are names unfamiliar to me included with all the banks on the list, such as Liberty, Flexi Cards, UDC and First Credit Union.

How do these differ from the banks we