Frequently Asked Questions

Credit is when you receive money, a good or a service, and you agree to pay for it in the future—usually with added interest. Nowadays, we use credit to buy lots of things, from houses and cars to groceries and clothing.

If you use it responsibly, credit can be a useful tool. But if you don’t, you’ll have to face some negative consequences that will make your life harder. 

Your credit score is a 3-digit number on a scale of 300 to 850 that suggests how creditworthy you are—meaning, how good you are with credit and how much you can be trusted to pay back what you borrow. Potential lenders will use this number to decide what kinds of credit cards and loans to offer you. Generally, the higher the score, the better the offers.

There are a few different types of scores, but the two best-known are your FICO Score and your VantageScore. They’re calculated based on the information that shows up on your credit report. 

Generally speaking, there are five tiers of credit score. A good credit score is anything above 670. 

Anything below 670 is considered poor or only fair credit. 

Your credit can be brought down a lot faster than it can be brought up, so it might help to review these things that can hurt your credit:
-Not paying bills on time
-Filing for bankruptcy or foreclosure
-Applying for too many credit accounts
-Carrying high balances on your credit cards
-Ignoring questionable negative items on your report

There are five main contributors to your credit score–payment history, amount of debt, length of credit history, credit mix and new credit. Managing your credit wisely by paying your bills on time, paying debt down and maintaining your current accounts could improve your score.

Beyond these five factors, your credit could contain negative items that are unfair or inaccurate, which can stay on your reports for up to seven to 10 years. If you don't want to wait that long, you can try repairing your credit. 

We often refer to credit scores as a single number, but that’s not actually the case. Each of the three credit bureaus gives you a customized credit score based on the information on your credit report, and you have a FICO® Score as well.

Credit scores range from 300 – 850.

The three main credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. When lenders want to see your credit report, they will request it from one or more of these reporting agencies.

Your report and score can differ from bureau to bureau because they don’t always have the same information, so we recommend you check each report separately to confirm that everything is on the up-and-up. 

Essentially, a credit bureau is a company that tracks your ability to pay. They collect information relating to your financial habits, then make this information available to lending institutions and credit card companies. There are three credit bureaus–Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

Short answer? Maybe. Employers are allowed by federal law to see a modified version of your credit report for purposes of hiring and promotion, meaning it could cost you a job or promotion. 

There are many factors that go into being approved for a mortgage, but you'll need at least a score of 620 to be approved for a traditional home loan. 

The minimum accepted score for a car loan will depend on the amount of money being requested, but some lenders will approve scores as low as 500–assuming you don't mind paying extra money in interest. 

While that depends on the amount you're asking for, you can get a personal loan with a score as low 500–assuming you don't mind paying extra money in interest.

Your credit report is generally only looked at by those who are considering loaning you money, like a bank, car dealership or credit card issuer.