FAQ

When you accept money, an item, or a service on credit, you commit to pay for it later—often with increased interest. Today, we buy a variety of items on credit, from groceries and apparel to vehicles and homes.

Credit is a resource that can be helpful if used properly. But if you don’t, you’ll have to deal with some bad outcomes that will make your life more difficult. Study up on credit.

Your credit score, which ranges from 300 to 850, is a three-digit figure that indicates your creditworthiness, or how well you handle credit and how much you can be relied upon to repay loans. This figure will be used by potential lenders to determine what kinds of credit cards and loans to offer you. In general, the offers are better the higher the score.

The two most well-known sorts of scores are your FICO Score and your VantageScore, though there are other types as well. On the basis of the data in your credit report, they are calculated.

Reviewing these factors that can damage your credit may be helpful because they can damage it far more quickly than they can help it:

• Failing to pay bills on time
• Bankruptcy petition or foreclosure
• Applying for excessive amounts of credit
• Maintaining large credit card balances
• Ignoring potential red flags on your report

Your credit score is primarily influenced by five factors: payment history, debt-to-credit ratio, duration of credit history, credit mix, and new credit. By keeping your current accounts open, making on-time payments on your bills, and reducing your debt, you can raise your credit score.

Beyond these five aspects, your credit may also have unjust or inaccurate bad things, which could remain on your reports for up to seven or ten years. You can attempt credit repair if you don’t want to wait that long.

Credit scores aren’t actually just one number, despite the fact that we frequently refer to them as such. You receive a unique credit score from each of the three credit agencies based on the details of your credit report, and you also have a FICO® Score.