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CREDIT CARDS
03 MIN READ

WHAT IS A CREDIT SCORE?

YOUR THREE-DIGIT FINANCIAL REPUTATION THAT AFFECTS EVERYTHING FROM LOANS TO APARTMENTS.

KEY TAKEAWAY

YOUR CREDIT SCORE IS A NUMBER BETWEEN 300-850 THAT TELLS LENDERS HOW LIKELY YOU ARE TO PAY BACK MONEY YOU BORROW.

THE BASICS

THINK OF YOUR CREDIT SCORE LIKE A GRADE FOR HOW WELL YOU HANDLE BORROWED MONEY. JUST LIKE A SCHOOL GRADE, HIGHER IS BETTER. MOST SCORES RANGE FROM 300 TO 850.

SCORE RANGES

EXCELLENT750-850
GOOD700-749
FAIR650-699
POOR300-649

WHAT AFFECTS YOUR SCORE

PAYMENT HISTORY (35%) - DO YOU PAY ON TIME?
CREDIT UTILIZATION (30%) - HOW MUCH OF YOUR AVAILABLE CREDIT DO YOU USE?
LENGTH OF HISTORY (15%) - HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD CREDIT?
CREDIT MIX (10%) - DO YOU HAVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CREDIT?
NEW CREDIT (10%) - HAVE YOU OPENED NEW ACCOUNTS RECENTLY?

WHY IT MATTERS

YOUR CREDIT SCORE AFFECTS THE INTEREST RATES YOU GET ON LOANS, WHETHER YOU CAN RENT AN APARTMENT, AND SOMETIMES EVEN JOB OPPORTUNITIES. A HIGHER SCORE CAN SAVE YOU THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OVER TIME.

QUICK ACTION

CHECK YOUR CREDIT SCORE FOR FREE AT ANNUALCREDITREPORT.COM OR THROUGH YOUR BANK'S APP. KNOWING YOUR NUMBER IS THE FIRST STEP TO IMPROVING IT.