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Your Credit Score
What is a credit score?
Your credit scores can affect whether a lender approves you for a mortgage, auto loan, personal loan, credit card or other type of credit. And if you’re approved, your credit scores can also help determine the interest rate and terms you’re offered.
How credit scores are created
Credit scores are calculated using the information in your credit reports. Each of the three main consumer credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — produces a credit report with information from lenders, credit card issuers and other financial institutions.
Your credit reports include information about your credit history and activity. The credit bureaus rely on credit scoring models such as VantageScore and FICO to translate all this information into a number.
While each credit scoring model uses a unique formula, the models generally account for similar credit information. Your scores are typically based on factors such as your history of paying bills, the amount of available credit you’re using and the types of debt you have (we’ll cover these factors in detail later).
Federal law prohibits credit scores from factoring in personal information like your race, gender, religion, marital status or national origin. That being said, it’s not necessarily true that the American financial system is unbiased — or that credit lending and credit scoring systems don’t consider factors affected by bias. To learn more about racial justice in lending and initiatives seeking to create change, connect with organizations leading the fight, like the ACLU.
How to get your free credit scores
On Credit Karma, you can get your free VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from Equifax and TransUnion.
You can also get your credit scores from the three main consumer credit bureaus, though you may be charged a fee. (You’re entitled to a free copy of your credit reports from each of the three credit bureaus every year, but not your scores.)
You might also be able to get your scores from your credit card company or lender, or from a reputable credit counselor.
Why you could have different credit scores
It’s perfectly normal to have different credit scores from different credit bureaus. Here are a few reasons why your credit scores may differ.
- There’s more than one credit scoring model. As noted above, the credit bureaus may use different credit scoring models to calculate your scores. Since different scoring models have different ranges and factor weightings, this often leads to different scores.
- Some lenders may use different types of credit scores for different types of loans. For example, an auto lender may use an auto industry-specific credit score. These scores tend to differ dramatically from standard consumer credit scores.
- Some lenders may only report to one or two credit bureaus. This means a credit-reporting bureau could be missing information that would raise or lower your score.
- Lenders may report updates to the credit bureaus at different times. If one credit bureau has information that’s more current than another, your scores might differ between those bureaus.
With all of these factors at play, you’ll frequently see minor fluctuations and variations across your scores. Instead of focusing on these small shifts, consider your credit scores a gauge of your overall credit health and think about how you can continue to build your credit over time.
If you think your credit scores are different because of errors on one or several of your credit reports, you can dispute those errors with each credit bureau. Credit Karma’s free credit-monitoring tool can also help you stay on top of your credit and catch any errors that may affect your scores.
Credit score ranges
There are a few key differences between the VantageScore and FICO models, including how they weigh different factors in determining your scores. Both have a score range of 300 to 850, but they differ as to which ranges are considered poor, fair, good or excellent.
What is a good credit score and why does it matter?
A credit score that falls in the good to excellent range can be a game-changer. While financial institutions look at a variety of factors when considering a loan or credit application, higher credit scores generally correlate with a higher likelihood of getting approved.
A good credit score can also unlock the door to lower interest rates and more-competitive terms. And if you have excellent credit scores, you have an even better chance of being offered the best rates and terms available.
On the other hand, if you have poor or bad credit scores, you may be able to get approved by some lenders, but your rates will likely be much higher than if you had good credit. You may also be required to make a down payment on a loan or get a cosigner.
Factors that affect your credit scores
The individual components vary based on the credit-scoring model used. But in general, your credit scores depend on these factors.
Most important: Payment history
For both the FICO and VantageScore 3.0 scoring models, a history of on-time payments is the most influential factor in determining your credit scores. Your payment history helps a lender or creditor assess how likely you are to pay back a loan.
Very important: Credit usage or utilization
Your credit utilization is calculated by dividing your total credit card balances by your total credit card limits. A higher credit utilization rate can signal to a lender that you have too much debt and may not be able to pay back your new loan or credit card balance.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recommends keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30%. This may not always be possible based on your overall credit profile and your short-term goals, but it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind.
Somewhat important: Length of credit history
A longer credit history can help increase your credit scores by showing that you have more experience using credit. Your history includes the length of time your credit accounts have been open and when they were last used. If you can, avoid closing older accounts, which can shorten your credit history.
Somewhat important: Credit mix and types
A healthy mix of accounts, including revolving lines of credit (like credit cards) and installment loans (such as car loans, student loans, personal loans and mortgages) can help build your scores. Lenders want to see that you’re able to handle and pay back different types of credit.
Less important: Recent credit
When you apply for credit or a loan, the financial institution will conduct a hard inquiry on your credit that shows up on your credit reports. Credit scoring models consider these recent hard inquiries when calculating your scores. Opening multiple new accounts within a short time period could suggest to a lender that you’re struggling financially.