A consumer’s credit score can have a dramatic impact on their life and well-being. Calculated based on credit reports, which aggregate information from a wide variety of sources, these numbers can determine where someone lives, how much they pay for a car or whether they can afford to open a business.
Credit scores are made of five basic categories of information:
- A consumer’s payment history (35% of the score)
- The amount of debt a consumer has (30% of the score)
- The length of a consumer’s credit history (15% of the score)
- Which types of credit accounts a consumer has (10% of the score)
- How often the consumer looks for credit (10% of score)
Errors in any of those categories, which the FTC says affects 20% of American consumers, can be extremely costly. AACCP member companies work on behalf of consumers to correct those errors where they exist, ultimately helping improve credit scores and making credit more accessible.
A consumer’s payment
history
35%
of the score.
The amount of debt a consumer has
30%
of the score.
The length of a consumer’s credit history
15%
of the score.
Which types of credit accounts a consumer has
10%
of the score.
How often the consumer looks for credit
10%
of the score.