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Glossary Finance

Credit score

A credit score is a number, such as 300 to 850 for FICO scores in the US, that summarises how reliably you have repaid debts and is used by lenders to set approval and rates.

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In more detail

FICO weights five factors: payment history (about 35%), amounts owed including card utilisation (30%), length of credit history (15%), new credit (10%) and mix of credit (10%). Paying on time and keeping card balances low relative to limits help most. Other countries use different scoring systems and ranges.

Try these tools

Credit Utilization Calculator

Enter balances and limits for up to five credit cards to see your utilization ratio per card and overall.

Credit Card Calculator

Find out how long it will take to pay off your credit card balance, how much interest you'll pay.

See also

  • Glossary Debt-to-income ratio (DTI)
    The debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income.
  • Glossary APR
    APR (annual percentage rate) is the yearly cost of borrowing, expressed as a percentage, that includes the interest rate plus certain fees.
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