How To Calculate My Credit Score

What Doesnt Affect Your Credit Score

Some personal and financial information may appear on your credit report but is not used to determine your credit scores. This includes:

• Age, sex, gender, race, nationality, ethnicity or area of residence
• Your income, assets, employment status or job title
• Religious or political affiliations
• The interest rates you pay on existing accounts
• Whether you receive public assistance or have used credit counseling
• Anything that isnt in your credit report

Is It Safe To Check My Credit Score For Free

Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma wont affect your credit, and any attempts to monitor your credit with Credit Karma will not appear on your credit reports.

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You can also read Credit Karmas security practices to learn more about Credit Karmas commitment to securing your data and personal information as if it were our own.

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• Free Credit Scores

How Are Credit Scores Calculated

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• You dont have just one credit score

• Payment history, the number and type of credit accounts, your used vs. available credit and the length of your credit history are factors frequently used to calculate credit scores

Many people are surprised to find out they dont have just one . Credit scores will vary for several reasons, including the company providing the score, the data on which the score is based, and the method of calculating the score.

Credit scores provided by the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — may also vary because not all lenders and creditors report information to all three major credit bureaus. While many do, others may report to two, one or none at all. In addition, the credit scoring models among the three major credit bureaus are different, as well as those used by other companies that provide credit scores, such as FICO or VantageScore.

The types of credit scores used by lenders and creditors may vary based on their industry. For example, if youre buying a car, an auto lender might use a credit score that places more emphasis on your payment history when it comes to auto loans. In addition, lenders may also use a blended credit score from the three major credit bureaus.

In general, here are the factors considered in credit scoring calculations. Depending on the scoring model used, the weight each factor carries as far as impacting a credit score may vary.

Used credit vs. available credit

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How To Lower Your Credit Utilization Ratio

• Spend minimally with your credit cards each billing cycle.
• Request a from your credit card issuer to give yourself more room to maintain low credit utilization.
• If you havent opened a new card account in a while, consider applying for a new card to raise your total available credit.
• If you have low limits on your cards, consider spreading your spending across multiple cards to keep your per-card credit utilization low.
• Monitor your utilization regularly to keep yourself from spending over your target threshold.
• Consider paying off your credit card balances as payments are posted instead of waiting until they are due.

See the online credit card applications for details about the terms and conditions of an offer. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However, all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the “Apply Now” button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the issuer’s web site.

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Why So Many Credit Scores

The industry is constantly working to fine tune the credit scoring process. From a lending standpoint, the most important function of credit scores is their ability to predict performance on a loan. A high credit score predicts successful payment of a loan over its full-term. A low score can be indicative of default. Thats exactly why lenders set credit score parameters.

Each lender will decide which version of FICO it will use in making loan decisions based on their own experience with each scoring model.

Meanwhile, the credit universe is constantly changing. As it does, FICO develops new scores to better reflect whats going on in the market.

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What Is Your Credit Utilization Ratio

Your credit utilization ratio is a percentage that shows how much of your available credit youre currently using. When you apply for a credit card, youre asking an issuer to provide you with a limited amount of money you can borrow and use to cover purchases, cash advances and, in some cases, balance transfers. This amount, known as a , can be as little as $50 or over $10,000 depending on your card type, issuer, credit score and other factors. When you use up some of your credit limit such as by making purchases the amount of money youve borrowed relative to the total amount available to you is expressed as a percentage and is known as your credit utilization ratio.

For example, if you spend $100 on purchases and you have a $1,000 in total available credit across all your credit cards, then your credit utilization is 10%.

What Is A Good Credit Score

This is a common question, but the answer isnt always clear-cut. Probably the most common threshold for a good score is around 700. In the vast majority of credit cases, that score will certainly get you approved for a loan. It wont necessarily get you the best pricing a lender has to offer on the loan youre applying for.

If youd like to know more about how your credit score stacks up, review our articles on and what credit scores you need for different types of credit applications.

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Focus On All 5 Factors To Improve Your Score

Although the exact algorithms used by FICO to calculate our credit scores are the companys own secret, consumers can get a good idea of where they stand by analyzing the five factors used by the FICO scoring models. For the most part, those who pay their bills on time, keep their balances low, establish credit early, are stingy with new accounts, and maintain a healthy credit mix will have great credit and high credit scores.

In addition, those who want to avoid credit score surprises should regularly check their credit reports. This can be done for free once a year through AnnualCreditReport.com without affecting your credit score. If you find items on your credit report that are expired, you can dispute them with the credit bureau to have them removed from your report.

• Most results of any credit repair law firm
• Clients saw over 9 million negative items removed from their credit reports in 2016
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Getting the help of an experienced credit repair company, such as Lexington Law, may also be a good option for having old, mistaken, or other negative items removed from your report. Keeping your credit report clean will ensure you have the best score you can reach.

The Main Factors Involved In Calculating A Credit Score Are:

• Your payment history
• Your used credit vs. your available credit
• The length of your credit history
• Number of inquiries into your credit file

If you look at your credit scores based on data from both national credit reporting agencies Equifax and TransUnion you may see different scores. This is completely normal. Each credit bureau has multiple scoring algorithms and lenders typically request only one of them when making decisions. While all score versions have the same purpose , there are some differences in the calculations.

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How Are Vantagescores Calculated

• How much you have, how much you use and whatâs left.
• The kinds of credit you have and the age of those accounts.
• Payment history: Whether you pay your bills on time.
• Age of credit history: VantageScore emphasizes this less than FICO, but it still matters.
• New accounts: Includes how recently they were started and also how many hard credit inquiries you have.

Most Recent Credit Activity

The final 10% of the credit score calculator is based on information about your most recent credit activity. Regardless of your reasons, opening new accounts and applying for new loans in a short period will hurt your credit score. Creditors see such frantic financial behavior as alarming and one that calls for a harsh creditworthiness assessment. To avoid falling for this typical mistake, try to spread your financial activities and inquiries over a longer period, otherwise, make sure you at least have a good explanation.

As explained earlier, it is your responsibility to look into the often unmatching credit scores calculated by different credit bureaus. With the above information, you should now have a clear understanding of how to do that. However, as you probably know, calculating your credit score is only part of the equation. What is more important is how you can improve it and become a favorable debtor that creditors can trust and accept to take on. Improving your credit score is worth taking the time to look for new and creative ways to make it happen. Even if you think you dont need it today, you should make that a priority because you will definitely need it at some point in the future.

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Mix Of Credit Types 10%

Your credit mix is the last factor that FICO uses to calculate your credit score, and it will count for 10% of your total score. Your credit mix is typically the least impactful of the five factors but will hold more weight for those without a lot of additional credit report information.

In general, lenders prefer borrowers who have experience managing different kinds of debt, including revolving credit and installment loans, as these consumers present less credit risk than inexperienced borrowers.

A healthy credit mix will include a combination of account types, such as one or two credit cards and a personal or auto loan. Consumers do not need to obtain every type of credit to score well on the credit mix factor, nor does FICO encourage anyone to do so.

FICO® Scores will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, and mortgage loans. Its not necessary to have one of each, and its not a good idea to open credit accounts you dont intend to use. myFICO.com

At the least, consumers should maintain at least one type of credit account, such as a basic credit card, to keep their credit reports current. If you are in the process of rebuilding your credit after a rough patch or bankruptcy, you may need to apply for credit cards for bad credit, but FICO doesnt differentiate from prime or subprime credit cards they all count as revolving credit and have the same impact on your credit mix.

How Your Credit Score Can Affect Your Future Mortgage Rate

So, there is a major financial benefit for keeping a good credit score.

Additionally, understanding how your credit score is calculated would reveal areas where you can work on to improve your creditworthiness and what you should not do to remain a low credit risk.

Your FICO score is calculated with a top-secret proprietary formula based on the following five components:

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How Much Is Owed

When you apply for credit, how much you already owe really matters to a lender. Your current payments will determine if you can manage any more payments in your budget for the additional money you borrow.

While you might think that you can handle more credit, statistically speaking, theres a chance you might not be able to. If you are close to maxing out all of your credit cards or your line of credit, it means that you are a higher risk to lenders. Higher risk to a lender means that theres a greater chance that you wont keep up with your payments.

Another aspect of this part of your credit score reflects how much of your available credit limits you use on an ongoing basis. If you usually use 60% or more of your credit limit on a credit card or line of credit, it will impact your credit score negatively. This is because if something were to happen to your income and you owe a lot of money, you would find yourself struggling to keep up with payments.

How Is Your Fico Score Calculated

FICO calculates your credit score by pulling data from your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reports. FICO uses this information to generate a three-digit FICO credit score based on the following five factors:

• Payment history : Your history of on-time payments. Late payments can seriously damage your credit score.
• Amounts owed : Your that is, the amount of money you owe vs. the amount of credit available to you. Paying off your credit card debt is a great way to improve your credit score.
• Length of credit history : The amount of time youve been using credit. If you are new to credit, your credit score could go up as you build a longer credit history.
• The different types of credit accounts under your name. If you have both revolving debt and installment debt , your credit score could get a boostbut dont worry if you havent taken out any loans yet. You can build good credit with just credit cards.
• New credit : This factor includes the number of hard credit inquiries on your account. If you apply for too much new credit at once, you could lose FICO score pointsso consider waiting three to six months between credit applications.

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What Is A Credit Utilization Ratio

A credit utilization ratio compares the amount of money you owe to the amount of credit lenders are willing to lend you. Your credit utilization considers all balances and credit limits across all open revolving credit accounts, and on individual accounts as well.

This calculation considers the balance on your card when your statement closes each month, even if you pay your card off in full. In other words, it may not be enough to pay your card off in full each month to have a low credit utilizationâif you accrue a high balance that gets reported on your statement, this will impact your utilization even if you pay it off all in one payment.

We advise using no more than 30% of your credit limit, overall and on each individual card, in order to maintain healthy, attractive credit. Lenders will likely consider those who have too much credit utilization as higher-risk borrowers, so the lower your credit utilization, the better.

Note that only revolving credit, such as credit card accounts and home equity lines of credit, affect utilization. With these, you borrow and repay as you go. In contrast, installment credit like auto loans and mortgages involve borrowing a set amount and making a set monthly payment.

What Does Not Affect Your Credit Score

There are a number of items that do not have any impact on your credit score.

• Race, color, religion, national origin, gender, or marital status. Federal law prohibits the use of any of these factors in determining credit status.
• Occupation, salary, or employment history. Lenders will evaluate this information, but they wont get it from your credit report.
• Your age. Neither FICO nor VantageScore considers your age as a factor in your credit score.
• Tax liens, alimony, and child support obligations. Lenders may find these through a public records search, but they do not appear on credit reports.
• Participation in credit counseling. Credit counseling agencies dont report to the credit bureaus, so participation in credit counseling or a debt management plan will not appear on your credit report.

Your credit score is about how well you handle debt, not about how rich you are. A low-income person who makes every payment on time can have a higher credit score than a well-off individual who habitually misses payments.

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Having A Good Credit Score

Your credit score is most often used when you apply for financing, such as a new loan or credit card. However, some employers will look at it when deciding whether you can handle a job related to money, and even some landlords will consider credit when deciding whether to rent to you. Your three-digit number, therefore, can have a big impact on where you work, where you live and how you live.

You can get a copy of your credit report and your credit score from the three major credit bureaus. While you are entitled to one free credit report a year, you may need to pay for the score.

Does Checking My Credit Scores Hurt My Credit

Checking your free credit scores on Credit Karma doesnt hurt your credit. These credit score checks are known as soft inquiries, which dont affect your credit at all.

Hard inquiries generally happen when a lender checks your credit while reviewing your application for a financial product. This kind of check can negatively affect your credit.

Read more about the difference between hard and soft credit inquiries.

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