Numerous parts of your life are impacted by your credit score, including whether you qualify for a loan or credit card, the interest rate you pay, and whether you can rent the apartment you desire.
A higher credit score might make it possible for you to get more credit products with lower interest rates. Borrowers with scores above 750 or so typically have a wide range of options available to them, including the possibility to get approved for 0% auto loans and 0% introductory APR credit card offers.
Understanding credit score ranges and how they are calculated might be useful.
A credit score: what is it?
A credit score is a three-digit number that typically ranges from 300 to 850 and indicates how likely you are to repay loans and make payments on time.
Your credit accounts’ information is used to compute your credit score. Your credit reports are created using the information obtained by credit-reporting organizations, often known as credit bureaus. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are the top three bureaus in terms of size.
There are several different credit scores for you, and they probably differ slightly from one another. That’s because scores are calculated by two significant corporations; more on that later.
Although there isn’t much of a difference between a “perfect” score and an excellent score when it comes to the rates and items you can qualify for, the highest credit score you can earn is 850. To put it another way: Don’t worry about attempting to get an 850 score, especially since scores constantly change.
What distinguishes the VantageScore from the FICO score?
Credit scoring is dominated by two companies. The most well-known score is the FICO one. The VantageScore is its main rival. They both typically work with credit scores between 300 and 850.
Additionally, each business has various variations of its grading system. VantageScore 3.0 and FICO 8 are the most often employed scoring algorithms.
VantageScore and FICO use the same data, but weight it significantly differently. They frequently go together: If your VantageScore is outstanding, your FICO is probably also excellent.
Why do my FICO and VantageScore results differ?
A score is a snapshot, and each time you look at it, the number may change. Your score may change depending on the credit bureau that provided the information for your credit report that was utilized to construct it, as well as the timing of that supply. Each bureau’s credit report is different since not all creditors report account activity to them.
What are the ranges for credit scores?
Although each creditor establishes their own criteria for acceptable scores, the following general principles apply:
- In general, a credit score of 720 or greater is regarded as outstanding.
- A credit score between 690 and 719 is regarded as good.
- Fair credit is 630 to 689 points.
- And credit ratings of 629 or below are considered terrible.
In addition to considering your credit score, creditors may also consider your income and other debts when deciding whether to approve your application.
What elements have an impact on your credit scores?
Many of the same characteristics are taken into account by the two most popular credit scoring models, FICO and VantageScore, but they are weighted differently.
The two factors that matter the most for both scoring models are:
Financial history. Paying your bills on time might be costly if you make a mistake. A payment that is overdue by 30 days or more is recorded on your credit report for years.
Utilization of credit. This phrase refers to the percentage of your credit limitations that you have used. It’s advisable to utilize no more than 30% of your available credit; lower is preferable. There are various actions you can take to reduce your credit utilization.
These elements are given much less weight, although they are nonetheless important to consider:
Credit history: The longer you’ve had credit and the older your accounts are on average, the better your credit score will be.
Credit mix: Scores encourage having multiple forms of credit, such as a traditional loan and a credit card.
How recently have you sought for credit? A hard inquiry on your credit report when you seek for credit may cause a brief drop in your score.
Things that have no bearing on your credit ratings
When determining credit scores, some elements—mostly those pertaining to demographic characteristics—are not taken into consideration.
Your age, sex, marital status, race, or ethnicity, for instance, are not taken into account in the calculation. Neither is where you live nor your previous employment history, which may include details like your pay, title, or company.
How to raise your credit score
What factors determine your credit score? Simply put, creditworthiness. What does this signify, though? Your credit score is an effort to forecast your monetary tendencies. As a result, things that affect your score also highlight trustworthy strategies for raising it:
- Remit all payments on time
- Maintain credit card balances at no more than 30% of the available credit, if possible.
- Keep older credit cards open to preserve the average age of your accounts, and think about using a combination of installment loans and credit cards.
Applying for credit gradually is preferable to doing so all at once. When you apply, lenders typically do a “hard pull” on your credit, which temporarily lowers your score. A greater amount of harm can be done if there are too many applications made too soon.
There are numerous ways to develop credit when you’re just getting started, as well as strategies to raise your score once it has already been established. You can raise your score by making payments on your credit card balances several times monthly, challenging inaccuracies on your credit reports, or requesting greater credit limits.
How can your credit be checked and tracked?
To find out what the lender is likely to notice, you can check your credit yourself for free and without damaging your score.
A personal finance website like NerdWallet, which provides a TransUnion VantageScore 3.0, allows you to obtain a free credit score. You can make it a habit to check your credit score whenever you log in to pay bills because many personal banking apps also provide free credit scores.
Keep in mind that grades can change. As long as you keep it in a healthy range, these variances won’t have an impact on your financial security.
By placing a freeze on your credit with each credit bureau, you may protect your credit. You can still use credit cards, but since access is restricted when your credit is frozen, no one can apply for credit using your personal information. It simply takes a few minutes to freeze your credit, but it can do a lot to safeguard your cash.
