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CREDIT SCORES / UNDERSTAND THE MODEL

Know what shapes
a FICO score.

Five broad categories describe general influence. They are not fixed point buckets.

Payment history35%

How you have handled payments on credit accounts.

Amounts owed30%

Balances and use of available credit, among other debt measures.

Length of credit history15%

The age and history of your credit accounts.

New credit10%

Recent accounts and applications for credit.

Credit mix10%

The types of credit accounts in your history.

35% does not mean a fixed number of points.

These general weights can vary with a person’s credit profile. Categories interact, and a single change does not produce a guaranteed score increase. Different models and versions may produce different scores.

Review the underlying report for accuracy before treating a score as the complete picture.

Read FICO’s explanation ↗ · Open the report-review guide ↗