How to find out your credit score

If you’re ready to take charge of your finances, then you need to learn how to find out your credit score. Finding out a credit score isn’t difficult, but unfortunately, many people only do it once every few years. In fact, Americans are allowed to order one free online credit report per year from each of the three major consumer credit agencies in the United States.

But there is one main drawback with these free credit reports: they don’t tell you your credit score. A typical free credit report will show every time you have used your credit over the past 7-10 years. It will show any outstanding bill payments you owe, as well as any loans you have paid off.

While the information on the free credit report is useful to many people, it doesn’t tell you the full story about your credit. If you want to find out how healthy your credit is, then you need to look at your credit score, which is a number between 300 and 850 that tells lenders how credit-worthy you are.

What is a credit score?

In the United States, credit scores are assigned by an agency called FICO, which is why a credit score is often known as a FICO score. The credit score is calculated using a number of different statistics, most of which can be found on your credit report.

Here’s how FICO determines your credit score. The percentages are the approximate weight of each value on your credit score:

Payment history – 35% – The most important factor in your credit score is your ability to make reliable on-time payments. Obviously, if you regularly miss your bill payments, lenders are going to see you as a higher risk. This could mean that they refuse to lend to you, or they might just assign you a higher interest rate.

Amount of credit used – 30% – Most consumers have some sort of debt on their record. You might have a mortgage, a student loan, and credit card debt, for example. If you already owe a lot of money, then it’s going to be difficult to borrow more money.

Length of credit history – 15% – If you have a long history of borrowing money and paying it back, lenders will like that, and your credit score will go up.

Recent applications for credit – 10% – Many people are unaware that their applications for credit are counted in their credit score. If you have frequently tried to borrow money over the past few years, then your credit score will take a small hit.

Types of credit used – 10% – If you have a history of paying back all different types of credit, it will be easier for you to get loans in the future.

 

Finding out your credit score

You can get a general idea of what your credit score is by looking at your free credit report, but you can’t get the specific credit score number. Knowing that number can make it easier for you to get the financing you need, and it can help you make decisions about any number of financing options.

For all of these reasons, learning how to find out your credit score is important. You can find out your credit score for free through Profinity Credit. Simply click here!