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Getting your Credit Score and Credit Report
About Your Credit Score
National credit reporting agencies give you a credit score. This is a number between 300 and 850 depending on a number of factors such as:
- Your past credit behavior - including how often you pay your bills on time
- How close you get to maxing out your available credit
- How many times you exceed your credit limit
- How many credit cards you have
Credit scoring was initially developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) to help lenders quickly evaluate your credit and decide whether or not you qualify for a loan. Credit scores are generally referred to as FICO scores.
Once you have your credit score, you'll need to determine what that number means. Generally, average credit scores are in the mid 650s to low 700s.
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Each agency may have a different score depending on which credit accounts are reported to that particular agency.
Because of this, most lenders use the middle score of the three national credit reports to determine what type of credit
risk you are. The three national reporting agencies are:
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