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If you have a bad / poor credit score then it means you are sitting between the credit score range of 300 to 629, which is were about 22% of Americans are currently sitting. Having a bad credit score does have quite a significant impact on your ability to borrow credit from lenders. Getting anything from an auto loan to an excellent credit card at low interest rates will very difficult to achieve. Auto or home insurance can be higher along with utility deposits that those will higher credit score usually get to skip on will not be likely. Dipping to a bad credit standing usually means you forgot to pay some bills on your credit card or car loan but it isn’t the end of your ability to credit. You can find providers who will be willing to lend and if you continue paying your bills on time your credit can improve over time.
If you are sitting at fair credit then you are right between bad and good credit. This usually means that you are between the low and mid 600’s. At this credit score range you will have a lot more options available than those with bad credit score ranges. At this point you can start applying for mortgages which typically begin at the score of 620. Auto loans are quite common in this range as well. When it comes to credit cards you begin to have a lot more options as well but not quite to the point where you can enjoy 0% interest rates or high rewards. At this point the most ideal option is to continue to push for a good credit score to open up even more options when it comes to mortgages, loans, credit cards, and more.
A good credit score ranges from 700 to 749 according to the FICO credit range while on a Vantage Score 3.0 you would end up at a B grade. You can check your credit score for free with Credit Sesame to see whether you fall inside the ‘good’ credit range. If you find yourself below the ‘good’ range then you can do several important actions to get yourself back up. First pay your bills on time, watch your balances, don’t go overboard applying for credit, live within your means, mix up your accounts, and finally, look into the future – credit history counts. With a good credit score range you will get a lot of great perks when it comes to applying for credit such as credit cards or loans.
If you find yourself sitting at an excellent credit score range then you are on the range of 750 or above according to the FICO range or an A if you are measuring based on the VantageScore 3.0 range. Getting to this position in the credit scale means that your payment history, credit utilization, credit age, credit mix, and inquiries are at the perfect (or excellent) amount. Having excellent credit opens numerous doors to the top credit card offers, best rates of loans, and other offers offered by lenders. This doesn’t mean that you are ‘done’ building your credit, especially if you are on the low end of excellent. It is recommended to continuously improve your credit.
| Free Credit Report | Free Credit Score | |
| What is it? | Your credit report is a summary of all of your credit history over time. | Your credit score is a formula used by bureaus to determine how creditworthy you are. |
| Where can you get it? | You can get your report with Credit Sesame or with an major credit bureau. | You can get your credit score from Credit Sesame or other places such as myFico. |
| What kind of information does it show? |
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| Who uses which? | Your creditor will typically do a hard credit inquiry to see if there is risk to giving you credit. | Your utility or phone company will do a soft credit inquiry before making a decision if you have to make a downpayment or not. |
Credit scores can change once a week for some and not at all for months (or even longer) for others. It usually takes specific changes to your credit information for your score to move, and once these changes occur, it could take some time for your credit report to reflect your new status. Due to this fact, you may want to consider tracking your credit score over longer periods of time. While the fact that your credit score hasn’t moved in a few months might seem concerning, it will likely seem less so in the context of a sixty-point improvement over an entire year.
When you open a new line of credit, a few immediate changes are usually made to your credit report. Most instantly, a new hard inquiry will probably be added to your report, and your average age of credit history could drop. Due to these factors, opening a new account is likely to drop your credit score in the short term. However, as you begin to diligently pay off your bills, the additional on-time payments, the higher number of total accounts and your now-growing age of credit history will likely outweigh the initial downsides, and your score can benefit in the long term.
