CREDIT 101

Let's Get You Control over your Fico

Reviewing your credit report details is a great way to get a handle on your credit health.  FICO Scores will consider your mix of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. It’s not necessary to have one of each, and it’s not a good idea to open credit accounts you don’t intend to use.  The credit mix usually won’t be a key factor in determining your FICO Scores—but it will be more important if your credit report does not have a lot of other information on which to base a score.

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It all starts with a Score

When you apply for credit—whether it’s for a credit card, car loan, mortgage or other types of credit—lenders will want to know your credit risk. That is, they’ll want to do a credit check to know how likely you are to pay back your credit obligations as agreed. To help them understand your credit risk, lenders use FICO Scores.The most commonly used credit scoring model range from 300 to 850.  Each lender sets its own standards for what constitutes a good credit score.  But, in general, scores fall along the following lines:

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    300-629; Bad Credit.
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    630-689; Fair or “Average” Credit
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    690-719; Good Credit.
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    720-850; Excellent Credit.