To many, the concept of their credit score is something that shrouded in mystery. Essentially, it is simply a numer that ascertains your credit trustworthiness. The higher the number of your score, the more credit worthy you are.

If you are a consumer in the American economy, this is something that you need to know, whether you have a credit card or not. Your credit score, to a large extent, will determine your life style.

For one thing, it is the determining factor as to whether or not you get that loan. And if you manage to get a loan, it has a major impact on the amount of interest that you will pay. Your credit score will ascertain whether you are offered special credit card deals such as lowest credit card rates, bonus miles, rewards program, and so on. And it determines whether you will be able to buy a home or if you will be forced to rent.

So, being that this score is evidently so important, what is it exactly that determines your credit score?

A number of factors go into determining one’s credit score. Probably, first among them is your payment history. A late payment on your bill will drive your credit score down. The later your payment is, the further down your credit score drops. More than one late payment will drive the score down even further. To be safe, if you don’t want your credit score to go down, make your payments on time.

If you have a high debt to balance ratio, this will also drive your credit score down. In other words, the closer you are to the credit limit on your cards, the lower your credit score will be.

The last major factor affecting your credit score is how long you’ve had credit for. A college student or a person who buys everything with cash will have a lower score than someone in their 60’s who has had credit since 19.

Read more from Susanna regarding credit card bad credit ratings and applying for college credit cards at her website.

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