Your credit score can play a massive role in your life because it impacts your ability to lend, as well as whether or not you are going to be able to get a mortgage. The good news is that your credit score is not set in stone forever. There are steps you can take to improve it. Nevertheless, you must understand the different factors that can influence your score. So, let’s take a look at four things you need to know.
Never having a credit card is not good for your credit score – If you do not have a credit card and you never have had one, you may be shocked to see that your credit score is not very impressive. The trouble with not having a credit card is that you do not have any credit history at all. Yes, you won’t have any bad activity on there but no lender is going to know whether or not you are credible. We recommend listening to a credit podcast if you’re a beginner and getting credit for the first time.
The number of applications you make matters – When making a credit card application, a hard search is going to be carried out on your credit report. A hard search leaves an impact and it can affect your rating, especially if there has been more than one search like this within the past six months. So, don’t simply apply for lots of different credit cards to give yourself the best chance of being accepted, as your score will be impacted as a consequence. Instead, use eligibility checkers and make sure that they only do a soft search before you go ahead and decide to apply.
There are many factors that influence your credit score – There are many different factors that influence your credit score. A lot of people do not realize this. For example, the main factor at play is how much credit you are using from the credit that is available to you. Aside from this, lenders are, of course, looking to make sure that you have made all of your payments on time and that you’re not behind on anything. Aside from this, simply making sure that the information is accurate and matches up correctly is important for your credit score.
Someone else’s credit score can have a negative impact on your own – Last but not least, if you have a joint bank account with someone who has a bad credit rating, this can have a highly negative impact on your score, so you do need to keep this in mind. Of course, the odd late payment here and there is unlikely to impact you, but more serious events can.
As you can see, there is a lot that needs to be considered when it comes to your credit score. We hope that the information that we have provided above will help you to continue working on your score so it can help you in the future.
