Payment History
Payment history is the single heaviest factor in most scoring models. It tracks whether payments on credit cards, loans, and other reported accounts arrived on time, and how recently and severely any late payments occurred.
A single 30-day late payment can affect a score, but the impact tends to fade as the account continues to be paid on time afterward. Accounts that go to collections or charge-off status carry a heavier and longer-lasting effect.
On-time
Strongest positive signal
30–90 days late
Moderate, fading impact
Collections
Severe, longer-lasting
Credit Utilization
Utilization compares reported revolving balances — mainly credit cards — against total available credit limits. It's typically calculated both per-card and across all revolving accounts combined.
Keeping utilization under roughly 30% is a common guideline, though lower ratios generally correlate with stronger scores. Because card issuers usually report a balance once per billing cycle, utilization can look high even if a balance is paid in full before the due date.
Calculate your utilizationCredit Age
This factor looks at the age of your oldest account, the average age across all accounts, and how recently accounts were opened. A longer track record generally signals more established credit behavior.
Closing an old account doesn't remove it from your report immediately, but it can eventually shorten your average account age once the closed account ages off — typically after several years.
Credit Mix
Scoring models give modest credit for successfully managing different account types — revolving lines like credit cards alongside installment loans such as auto loans, student loans, or mortgages.
This factor carries the least weight of the five, and opening a new account type solely to diversify mix rarely produces a meaningful score change on its own.
Hard Inquiries &
New Accounts
How recent credit applications and newly opened accounts can influence your credit profile.
What to know
Recent credit activity matters
A hard inquiry appears when a lender pulls your report as part of a credit application. Each one can cause a small, typically short-lived dip.
Most models count rate-shopping inquiries for the same loan type — such as auto or mortgage loans — within a defined window as a single inquiry.
Rate-shopping can be treated differently
Applying for the same type of loan within a defined shopping window may be grouped together by many scoring models.
New accounts
Opening several accounts quickly can reduce your average account age.
Near-term risk
Multiple new accounts may signal higher near-term risk to some scoring models.