Your credit score is derived from credit history file items in your credit report, usually from one of the three national credit report agencies TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. Your credit report will contain items such as your personal information, credit and loan accounts and payment histories, public record items, and the number of recent credit inquiries for credit accounts. There are many different systems for calculating a credit score, with the most commonly used one called the FICO Score. All the different scoring systems share a common goal of providing a numerical representation of one’s credit worthiness.

Credit scores are derived from a credit file’s information about payment history of credit and loan accounts, total amounts owed in credit cards and loans, history length of those accounts, the types of credit a person uses, and recent and new credit accounts and inquiries*. A numerical score is assigned to each item (positive and negative) in your history and added together to produce a total score. Creditors and loan companies use credit scores as a quick glimpse to the likeliness of a person paying back a loan. In general, those with better credit scores are more likely to be granted a loan or credit line and be given better terms and rates.

*The approximate weighting of each item in a credit score is:
35% from loan and credit payment history
30% from total amounts owed to credit and loan companies
15% from credit history length
10% from recent credit accounts opened or applied for
10% from the mix of credit card, mortgage, and other types of credit you use

To see your credit report and score, Use Our Directory of Credit Reporting and Monitoring Services. Use the comparison matrix to see what services you are interested in. If you just want to see your credit report and score for free, opt for a service with a free trial and cancel before the trial period is over.

For the FICO Score system, the total score range is form 300 - 850. Different creditors and lenders will define their ratings for credit score ranges differently, but a set of usual ratings is:

Excellent: Over 740. Browse credit card offers for Excellent credit.
Good: 661 to 740. Browse credit card offers for Good credit.
Fair: 581 to 660. Browse credit card offers for Fair credit.
Poor: less than 580. Browse credit card offers for Poor credit.