What’s in a Credit Score?

There are many types of credit scores, but lenders only care about your FICO score, so let’s examine how FICO scores are determined.

There are 5 factors that go into your FICO score.

1. Past Delinquencies – makes up 35% of score

  • Timing of the delinquency – more recent lates affect scores more
  • Level of Delinquency – 60 days late is worse than 30, etc
  • Last activity date
  • Missed payments (low vs. high) – total number

2. Revolving Debt Ratio – makes up 30% of your score

  • Credit limit divided by credit balance – the lower the better

3. Average Age of filemakes up 15% of your score

  • The older the better

4. Mix of credit – makes up 10% of your score

  • Ratio of credit cards to loans

5. Inquiries – make up 10% of score

  • Only hard inquiries affect your score. A hard inquiry is recorded whenever you apply for credit
About The Author

Brian Diez

Brian Diez is a nationally recognized credit expert. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, Dow Jones' Market Watch and Credit.com.