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Your Credit Score Factors
Your Credit Score Factors
A credit score summarizes your credit history into a number lenders use to estimate risk. Five factors drive most scoring models:
- Payment history — paying on time, every time, matters most.
- Amounts owed — keep balances low relative to your limits (under 30% utilization is a common guideline).
- Length of history — older accounts help; keep your oldest account open.
- New credit — many applications in a short period is a red flag.
- Credit mix — handling different types of credit responsibly helps.
None of these require tricks — just consistency. In the next activities you will check your understanding and reflect on your own habits.