Five Parts to Your FICO Credit Score

As a rule, credit scores analyze the credit relate information on your credit report. How they do this varies. Since FICO scores are frequently used, here is how these scores assess what is on your credit report.

1. 35% – Your Payment History – Have you paid your credit accounts on time? Late payments, bankruptcies and other negative items can hur you credit score. However, a solid record of on-time payments and help your score dramatically.
2. 30% – How Much you Owe – FICO scores look at the amounts you owe on all your accounts, the number of accounts with balances, and how much of your available credit you are using. The more you owe compared to your credit limit the lower your score will be.
3. 15% – Length of your Credit History – A longer credit history will increase your score. However, you can get a high score with a short credit history if the rest of your credit report shows responsible management.
4. 10% – New Credit – If you recently applied for or opened new credit accounts, your credit score will weigh this fact against the rest of your credit history. FICO scores distinguish between a search for a single loan and a search for many new credit lines, in part by the length of time over which inquiries occur. If you need a loan, do your rate shopping with in a focused period of time, such as 30 days, to avoid lowering your FICO score.
5. 10% – Which Side of the Bed you Wake up on – I don’t think there is a science to all the calculations on determining your FICO score so small miscellaneous variables could affect your rating. What color shirt you wear, If you take cream with your coffee…I don’t know?? Hopefully, this list will give you a good start to building and maintaining a high credit FICO score.