Inside Your Credit Score

The two major credit scoring models are FICO and VantageScore. The FICO score is better known among consumers, but VantageScore is gaining in usage every year. The components and weightings that are used to calculate credit scores are different for each model. Knowing how the scores are computed allows you to take actions to maximize your score.

Inside FICO

• Payment history (35 percent)

• Amount and type of debt (30 percent)

• The length of time you’ve been using credit (15 percent)

• The variety of accounts (10 percent)

• The number and types of your new accounts and credit increase requests (generally in the last six months or so) (10 percent)

Inside VantageScore

• Recent credit and line increases requested by you (31 percent)

• Payment history (28 percent)

• Utilization of your credit lines (21 percent)

• Balances (9 percent)

• Depth (length and types) of credit (9 percent)

• Available credit limits on all your accounts (2 percent)