To many, the concept of their credit score is something that shrouded in mystery. Essentially, it is simply a numer that ascertains your credit trustworthiness. The higher the number of your score, the more credit worthy you are.

If you are a consumer in the American economy, this is something that you need to know. It doesn’t matter whether you have or don’t have a credit card. To a major extent, your credit score will determine your life style.

For one thing, it is the determining factor as to whether or not you get that loan. And if you manage to get a loan, it has a major impact on the amount of interest that you will pay. Your credit score will ascertain whether you are offered special credit card deals such as one of the lowest credit card rates, bonus miles, rewards program, and so on. And it determines whether you will be able to buy a home or if you will be forced to rent.

So, being that this score is evidently so important, what exactly determines your credit score?

Your credit score is determined by a number of things. Among them, your payment history is probably the most important. A late payment on your bills drives down your credit score. The later it is, the more it is driven down. Multiple late payments drive this score down even further. Bottom line - if you don’t want your credit score to go down, don’t be late making your payments.

If you have a high debt to balance ratio, this will also drive your credit score down. In other words, the closer you are to the credit limit on your cards, the lower your credit score will be.

Lastly, how long have you had credit? Or, more precisely, how long have you been in their database? A college student or a person who buys everything with cash will have a lower score than someone in their 60’s who has had credit since 19.

You can read more articles concerning credit card bad credit, as well as handling college credit cards at Susanna’s site.

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