Raise Your Scores

Learn About Credit

Credit plays a critical part in nearly everyone's life, but understanding what credit is and how it works can be a challenge. A great way to understand the role credit plays in your life – and to empower yourself as a consumer – is with a basic knowledge of two credit fundamentals: Credit Scores and Credit Reports.

Credit Scores

Your credit score is a number based on the information in your credit file that shows how likely you are to pay a loan back on time – the higher your score, the less risk you represent. Your credit score helps a lender determine whether you qualify for a loan and what interest rate you'll pay.

What's in Your Score: Knowing what information a credit score considers is the first step in understanding how to improve your credit health and build a better score.

What's Not in Your Score: Your credit file contains information that does not reflect on your creditworthiness - such as race or income - which is ignored by the credit score.

How Scoring Helps You: Credit scores provide a fast, objective measurement of your credit risk, which has a number of benefits for you.
Improving Your Score: By understanding what lenders view as good credit management, you can build a strong credit history, improve your score and qualify for better loan terms.

Facts & Fallacies: Learn the facts behind the common misconceptions about credit scoring.

Credit Reports

Your credit report shows the information you have on file at one or all of the three major credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Each of these reporting agencies (also known as credit bureaus) maintain their information separately, so the data you have on file may differ between them.

What's In Your Report: Your credit report contains a variety of personal data. Some of this information, but not all, is used when making lending decisions.

How Mistakes are Made: Mistakes happen – and they can affect your ability to obtain credit. By learning the most common mistakes, you'll know what to look for when you review your credit report.

Checking Your Report: You should review your credit report from each credit reporting agency at least once a year and especially before making a large purchase, such as a house or car.

Average Credit Statistics: Fair Isaac recently surveyed the panorama of credit activity across the US by analyzing a large sample of people who recently obtained new credit.

Credit Inquiries: Find out what credit inquiries are, how they may or may not affect your credit score, and much more.