Credit Education

Fico Scores
FICO Scores are calculated from a lot of different credit data in your credit report. This data can be grouped into five categories as outlined below. The charts below reflect how important each of the categories is in determining your FICO score.
Payment History
Account payment information on specific types of accounts (credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts, mortgage, etc.)
Presence of adverse public records (bankruptcy, judgments, suits, liens, wage attachments, etc.), collection items, and/or delinquency (past due items)
Severity of delinquency (how long past due), and how many items are past due
Amount past due on delinquent accounts or collection items
Amounts Owned
Amount owing on accounts and number of accounts with balances
Amount owing on specific types of accounts
Lack of a specific type of balance, in some cases
Length of Credit History
Time since accounts opened
Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account
Time since account activity


Credit Reporting Agencies
There are three major credit reporting agencies in the United States: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. A credit reporting agency gathers information from various providers and supplies credit data on individual consumers. Each credit reporting agency has its own formulas for calculating credit scores.
Companies that supply your credit information to consumer reporting agencies have to follow specific credit reporting rules, as listed under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. The act stipulates who can obtain a copy of your credit report and in what circumstances.