What Moves a Credit Score — and What a Score Affects

The Five FICO Factors and Their Approximate Weights

Payment history — about 35 percent: Whether accounts have been paid as agreed, and the recency, frequency, and severity of any delinquencies, collections, or public record items. The largest single input.
Amounts owed — about 30 percent: Balances relative to limits on revolving accounts, commonly called utilisation, along with total balances and the number of accounts carrying a balance.
Length of credit history — about 15 percent: The age of the oldest account, the average age of all accounts, and how long specific accounts have been active.
New credit — about 10 percent: Recently opened accounts and recent hard inquiries generated by applications for credit.
Credit mix — about 10 percent: The presence of different account types, such as revolving accounts alongside instalment loans.
An important qualification: These weights describe the general population. FICO states that the actual importance of each category varies with the individual file, so no single weighting applies to every consumer.

Included: Identifying information, accounts with their limits, balances and payment history, hard inquiries, and certain public record items. Most negative information may generally be reported for up to seven years, with Chapter 7 bankruptcy reportable for up to ten.
Not scored: Income, employment status, assets, and bank balances are not part of a credit score, even where an employer or salary appears in the file. A lender considers income separately, from the application.
Prohibited: Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, race, colour, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, and receipt of public assistance may not be used as a basis for a credit decision, and scoring models do not include them.
Soft inquiries: A consumer checking their own report, or a lender making a pre-screened offer, generates a soft inquiry, which does not affect the score.
Not always reported: Rent, most utilities, and many recurring subscriptions are not furnished to the bureaus by default, which is a principal reason some consumers have thin or absent files.

A payment 30 or more days late: Once furnished, it enters payment history, the heaviest-weighted category, and its effect diminishes with time but persists in the file for years.
Rising utilisation: Because amounts owed is computed against available credit, a balance can raise utilisation either by growing or because a limit was cut or an account closed.
Several applications in a short window: Each generates a hard inquiry, and multiple new accounts also reduce the average age of accounts.
Closing an old account: This can remove available credit from the utilisation calculation, and over time can affect the average age of accounts on file.
Collections, charge-offs, and public record items: These are severe derogatory entries. Newer models, including FICO 9 and VantageScore 3.0 and later, disregard paid collection accounts.

Whether credit is approved: Lenders set their own cut-offs, so the same score can be approved by one institution and declined by another.
The price of credit: Risk-based pricing means the interest rate offered typically varies with the score band, and over the life of a large instalment loan a rate difference translates into a substantial difference in total interest.
Deposits and terms elsewhere: Utility and mobile providers may use a credit check to set a security deposit; landlords commonly obtain a report as part of tenant screening.
Insurance in some states: Insurers in many states use a separate credit-based insurance score in underwriting or rating, subject to state law, and several states restrict or prohibit the practice.
Employment screening: Employers may obtain a credit report only with written authorisation under the FCRA, and a number of states and cities limit the practice. Employment reports do not include a score.
Adverse action rights: If a score contributed to a denial or to less favourable terms, the FCRA and ECOA entitle the consumer to a notice identifying the key factors involved.