About your credit score
What is a credit score?
A credit score is a number between 340 and 850 that lenders use to estimate risk. Borrowers with higher credit scores are less likely to default on a loan. Anything below 600 is consider bad credit, Fair is 600 to 650, Good is 650 to 700. Anything above 700 is considered excellent credit.
How are credit scores calculated?
Credit scores are generated by plugging the data from your credit report into software that analyzes it and cranks out a number. The three major credit reporting agencies don't necessarily use the same scoring software, so don't be surprised if you discover that the credit scores they generate for you are different. Lenders use the middle score of the three as your actual credit score, or the number on which decisions are based.
Why are credit scores sometimes called FICO scores?
The software used to calculate a great number of credit scores was created by Fair Isaac Corporation--FICO.
Which parts of a credit history are most important?
The pie chart above shows a breakdown of the approximate value that each aspect of your credit report adds to a credit score calculation. Use these percentages as a guide:
Your Payment History Includes:
- Number of accounts paid as agreed
- Negative public records or collections
- Delinquent accounts:
- total number of past due items
- how long you've been past due
- how long it's been since you had a past due payment
What You Owe:
- How much you owe on accounts and the types of accounts with balances
- How much of your revolving credit lines you've used--looking for indications you are over-extended
- Amounts you owe on installment loan accounts vs. their original balances--to make sure you are you paying them down consistently
- Number of zero balance accounts
Length of Credit History:
- Total length of time tracked by your credit report
- Length of time since accounts were opened
- Time that's passed since the last activity
- The longer your (good) history, the better your scores
Types of Credit:
- Total number of accounts and types of accounts (installment, revolving, mortgage, etc.)
- A mixture of account types usually generates better scores than reports with only numerous revolving accounts (credit cards)
Your New Credit:
- Number of accounts you've recently opened and the proportion of new accounts to total accounts
- Number of recent credit inquiries
- The time that's passed since recent inquiries or newly-opened accounts
- If you've re-established a positive credit history after encountering payment problems
- In general, checking to make sure you aren't attempting to open numerous new accounts
Credit scoring software only considers items on your credit report. Lenders typically look at other factors that aren't included in the report, such as income, employment history and the type of credit you are seeking.
What's a Good Credit Score?
Credit scores (usually) range from 340 to 850. The higher your score, the less risk a lender believes you will be. As your score climbs, the interest rate you are offered will decline.
Borrowers with a credit score over 650 are typically offered more financing options and better interest rates, but don't be discouraged if your scores are lower, we can increase your score by 50 to 100 points within a few months.
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