Understanding Your Credit Score

 The Five Things That Count

Scores are part of the lending decision

What do lenders look at when deciding whether to approve a loan? Typically, lenders making almost any kind of credit decision will look at a variety of types of information, including one or more credit scores. While there are many kinds of credit scores, the most frequently used are credit bureau risk scores developed by Fair, Isaac. These are commonly known as FICO® scores, although they have different names at each of the national credit reporting agencies.

A score is a number that tells a lender how likely an individual is to repay a loan, or make credit payments on time. When a lender requests a credit report and score from a credit reporting agency, the score is calculated by a "scorecard" or scoring model — a mathematical equation that evaluates many types of information from your credit report at that agency. By comparing this information to the patterns in thousands of past credit reports, scoring identifies your level of credit risk.

Types of information FICO scores consider

Listed below are the five main categories of information on a credit report that Fair, Isaac scores evaluate, along with their general level of importance. Within these categories is a complete list of the information that goes into a FICO score. Please note that:
  • A score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two. No one piece of information or factor will determine your score.
  • The importance of any factor depends on the overall information in your credit report. For some people, a given factor may be more important than for someone else with a different credit history. In addition, as the information in your credit report changes, so does the importance given any one factor in determining your score. Thus, it's impossible to say exactly how important any single factor is in determining your score — even the levels of importance shown are for the general population, and will be slightly different for different credit profiles. What's important is the mix of information, which varies from person to person, and for any one person over time.
  • Your score only looks at information in your credit report. Lenders look at many things when making a credit decision, including your income and the kind of credit you are applying for. However, your FICO score does not reflect these facts, as it only evaluates your credit report at the credit reporting agency.
  • Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report. Late payments will lower your score, but having a good record of making payments on time will raise your score.
  • Your score does not consider your ethnic group, religion, gender, marital status and nationality. These are, in fact, prohibited from use in scoring by US law.

 

1.  Payment History

What is your track record?

The first thing any lender would want to know is whether you have paid past credit accounts on time. This is also one of the most important factors in a credit score. However, late payments are not an automatic "score-killer." An overall good credit picture can outweigh one or two instances of, say, late credit card payments. By the same token, having no late payments in your credit report doesn't mean you will get a "perfect score." Some 60-65% of credit reports show no late payments at all — your payment history is just one piece of information used in calculating your score.

2.  Amounts Owed

How much is too much?

Having credit accounts and owing money on them does not mean you are a high-risk borrower with a low score. However, owing a great deal of money on many accounts can indicate that a person is overextended, and is more likely to make some payments late or not at all. Part of the science of scoring is determining how much is too much for a given credit profile.

3.  Length of Credit History

How established is yours?

In general, a longer credit history will increase your score. However, even people with short credit histories may get high scores, depending on how the rest of the credit report looks.

4.  New Credit

Are you taking on more debt?

People tend to have more credit today and to shop for credit — via the Internet and other channels — more frequently than ever. Fair, Isaac scores reflect this fact. However, research shows that opening several credit accounts in a short period of time does represent greater risk — especially for people who do not have a long-established credit history. This also extends to requests for credit, as indicated by "inquiries" to the credit reporting agencies — an inquiry is a request by a lender to get a copy of your credit report.

The Fair, Isaac scores distinguish between searching for many new credit accounts and rate shopping, which is generally not associated with higher risk. In part, this is handled by treating a grouping of inquiries — which probably represents a search for the best rate on a single loan — as though it was a single inquiry. Your score takes into account:

5.  Types of Credit in Use

Is it a "healthy" mix?

The score will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. It is not necessary to have one of each, and it is not a good idea to open credit accounts you don't intend to use. The credit mix usually won't be a key factor in determining your score — but it will be more important if your credit report does not have a lot of other information on which to base a score.

 

Using Score Reason Codes to Understand Your Score

When a lender receives your Fair, Isaac credit bureau risk score, up to four "score reason codes" are also delivered. These explain the top reasons why your score was not higher. They say things like "Number of accounts with delinquency." If the lender rejects your request for credit, these reason codes can help the lender tell you why your score wasn't higher.

These reason codes are more helpful than the score itself in helping you determine whether your credit report might contain errors, and how you might improve your score over time. However, if you already have a high score some of the reason codes may not be very helpful, as they may be marginal factors related to the last three categories above.

 

A Note About Fair, Isaac Scores

Fair, Isaac credit bureau risk scores are available to lenders through the major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union). The score from each credit reporting agency considers only the data in your credit report at that agency. This is why you may have a different score from each of the credit reporting agencies.

Fair, Isaac credit bureau risk scores provide the best risk guide available based solely on credit report data. The higher the score, the lower the risk. There are also other types of scores available to lenders. But no score says whether a specific individual will be a "good" or "bad" customer. And while many lenders use FICO scores to help them make lending decisions, each lender has its own strategy, including the level of risk it finds acceptable for a given credit product. There is no single "cutoff score" used by all lenders.

FICO credit bureau risk scores are calculated by the credit reporting agency, using Fair, Isaac's scoring models, when the score is requested by a lender. Only the credit reporting agencies have the data needed to calculate a FICO score. Fair, Isaac can't access or correct data at the credit reporting agencies, or calculate a score. To get a copy of your credit report or to correct information in the report, contact the credit reporting agency directly.