What Is An Ok Credit Score

What Is A Good Vantagescore

FICO competitor VantageScore produces a similar score using the same credit report data from the three bureaus.

A good VantageScore lies between 661 and 780, which the company calls a “prime” credit tier. VantageScores 780 to 850 are considered “superprime,” while those between 601 and 660 are “near prime.” VantageScores below 600 are considered “subprime.”

The average VantageScore 3.0 in the second quarter of 2021 was 695.

What Is A Good Credit Score For A Credit Card

Like other lenders, credit card issuers will consult your credit score to determine the risk of doing business with you before approving you for a new credit card. If you want to open a premium travel rewards credit card, you may need good and perhaps even excellent credit scores to qualify. For other types of credit cards, even some with 0% introductory APR offers, a good credit score may be sufficient to be approved for the card.

Beyond qualifying for a credit card, your score can also have a significant impact on the APR and other terms of your account. Credit card issuers not only rely on credit scores to help them determine whether or not to approve applications, but they also use scores to set the pricing on the accounts they approve.

Take this list of top credit cards, for example. Youll notice that every credit card offer features not a specific rate, but rather an APR range. A card issuer might advertise an APR of 13.49% to 24.49%. The reason for that range is because the card issuer will base the final rate it offers you on the condition of your credit.

Defining a specific number that a credit card issuer defines as a good score is tough for two reasons:

Average Credit Score By State

Finances look very different across all 50 states, and the average credit score looks pretty different, too. While Mississippi has the lowest average credit score, Minnesota has the highest credit score at 742. Here’s the average credit score in each US state and the District of Columbia, according to data from Experian.

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Average Age By Credit Score Tier

The Southwest has the worst credit, on average , whereas the Northeast has the best . In fact, seven of the ten states with the highest average credit scores are in the West North or New England. With that being said, every region has at least one state whose residents boast good credit, on average.

So, while job opportunities, living costs and other local factors definitely affect credit-score averages, its also true that credit scores can flourish anywhere.

What Interest Rate Can I Get With My Credit Score

While a specific credit score doesnt guarantee a certain mortgage rate, credit scores have a fairly predictable overall effect on mortgage rates. First, lets assume that you meet the highest standards for all other criteria in your loan application. Youre putting down at least 20% of the home value, you have additional savings in case of an emergency and your income is at least three times your total payment. If all of that is true, heres how your interest rate might affect your credit score.

• Excellent Your credit score will have no impact on your interest rate. You will likely be offered the lowest rate available.
• Very good Your credit score may have a minimal impact on your interest rate. You could be offered interest rates 0.25% higher than the lowest available.
• Good Your credit score may have a small impact on your interest rate. This means rates up to .5% higher than the lowest available are possible.
• Moderate Your credit score will affect your interest rate. Be prepared for rates up to 1.5% higher than the lowest available.
• Poor Your credit score is going to seriously affect your interest rates. You may be hit with rates 2-4% higher than the lowest available.
• Very Poor This is trouble. If you are offered a mortgage, youll be paying some very high rates.

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Why A Very Good Credit Score Is Pretty Great

A credit score in the Very Good range signifies a proven track record of timely bill payment and good credit management. Late payments and other negative entries on your credit file are rare or nonexistent, and if any appear, they are likely to be at least a few years in the past.

People with credit scores of 754 typically pay their bills on time in fact, late payments appear on just 23% of their credit reports.

People like you with Very Good credit scores are attractive customers to banks and credit card issuers, who typically offer borrowers like you better-than-average lending terms. These may include opportunities to refinance older loans at better rates than you were able to get in years past, and chances to sign up for credit cards with enticing rewards as well as relatively low interest rates.

What Information Credit Scores Do Not Consider

FICO® and VantageScore do not consider the following information when calculating credit scores:

• Your race, color, religion, national origin, sex or marital status.
• Your salary, occupation, title, employer, date employed or employment history.
• Where you live.
• Soft inquiries. Soft inquiries are usually initiated by others, like companies making promotional offers of credit or your lender conducting periodic reviews of your existing credit accounts. Soft inquiries also occur when you check your own credit report or when you use from companies like Experian. These inquiries do not impact your credit scores.

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How Does A Credit Scoring System Work

• Have you paid your bills on time? If your credit report shows that youve paid bills late, had an account put in collections, or declared bankruptcy, thats likely to affect your score negatively.
• Are you maxed out? Many scoring systems look at the amount of outstanding debt you have compared to your credit limits. If the amount you owe is close to your credit limit, its likely to hurt your score.
• How long have you had credit? Generally, scoring systems consider your credit track record. A short credit history may hurt your score, but paying bills on time and having low balances can offset that.
• Have you applied for new credit lately? Many scoring systems look at inquiries on your credit report to see whether youve applied for credit recently. If youve applied for too many new accounts recently, it could hurt your score. Not every inquiry is counted: for example, inquiries by creditors who are monitoring your account or making prescreened credit offers arent counted against you.
• How many credit accounts do you have, and what kinds of accounts are they? Although its generally considered a plus to have established credit accounts, too many credit card accounts may hurt your score. Also, many scoring systems consider the type of credit accounts you have. For example, under some scoring systems loans to consolidate your debt but not loans for buying a house or car may hurt your credit score.

What Affects Your Credit Score

On the list of what affects your credit score, two factors have the biggest influence: Payment history, which is whether you pay on time, and credit utilization, which is how much of your credit limits you have in use.

Other factors matter but carry a little less weight: how long you’ve had credit, whether you have a mix of credit types and how frequently and recently you’ve applied for credit.

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How To Get A 778 Credit Score

Theres no one path you can follow to get an excellent credit score, but there are some key factors to be aware of while you continue to build and maintain it.

Even if youre holding steady with excellent credit, its still a good idea to understand these credit factors especially if youre in the market for a new loan or youre aiming for the highest score.

What Is Considered As A Poor Credit Score

According to Capital One, a FICO score that falls below 580 is considered to be a poor credit score. Lower credit scores can make it difficult to get approved for credit cards or loans as approximately 61 percent of those with low credit scores fall behind on their loans11.

Come up with a credit card debt or loan repayment plan to reduce debt and credit utilization, look for accounts that build credit, and find other ways like Experian Boost to improve your score if you have negative items contributing to your bad credit.

Experian also offers free credit score checks to help you stay on top of your score and payment history. Your credit card balance doesnt have to stop you from moving forward financially.

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Is A 700 Credit Score Good

FICO credit scores, the industry standard for sizing up credit risk, range from 300 to a perfect 850with 670 to 739 labeled good, 740-799 very good and 800 to 850 exceptional. A 700 score places you right in the middle of the good range, but still slightly below the average credit score of 711.

Average Credit Score By Region

Lets break down the USA into the four regions used by the U.S. Census Bureau: Northeast, Midwest, West and South. As of 2019, the Northeast has the highest average FICO® Score at 717. All the states in this region fit into the first two columns on the map above.

The next highest is the Midwest at 716. The Midwest has a wider dispersion than the Northeast but has five states listed in the highest column: Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The West comes in at 710 with the widest dispersion of the three regions. On one side, youve got Hawaii and Washington at 723, and on the other, theres Nevada and New Mexico at 686.

Rounding out the regions, the South has an average score of 688. Thirteen of the Souths 16 states fall into the bottom two columns. The only states that arent southern states in those columns are Indiana, Nevada and New Mexico.

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How To Improve Your Fico Score

Improving your FICO Score takes some time and patience, but it is possible. Follow these tips to start improving your credit score:

• Review your credit report and dispute any errors
• Pay all of your bills on time
• Get current on any missed payments
• Contact your creditor if you think you may make a late payment
• Create a debt management plan with the help of a nonprofit credit counseling agency
• Pay off debt early by making more than the minimum monthly payments
• Keep balances low on revolving lines of credit, like credit cards
• Refrain from opening multiple new credit cards to increase your available credit
• Keep your oldest accounts open and in good standing

What Is The Average Credit Score In America

The average credit score in the U.S. is at an all-time high of 711. This coincides with what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau defines as “prime.”

About 1 in 5 American adults either have no credit history or are unscorable. As a result, these individuals will have difficulty obtaining new lines of credit.

In the eyes of lenders, credit scores fall into several buckets, which indicate how risky it may be to extend credit to an individual. Outside of playing a role in approvals for a loan or credit, these scores can also impact an individual’s lending terms. Perhaps the most important terms among those are interest rates.

The higher an individual’s credit score, the lower their quoted APR will typically be.

FICO credit scores break down in the following manner:

• 800 to 850: Exceptional
• 300 to 579: Very poor

This means the average credit score of 711 is in the good range.

Though the average credit score has generally improved since 2005, slight dips were seen around the Great Recession that ended in 2009. A large number of people declaring bankruptcy or defaulting on their loans would have caused their credit scores to plummet, which in turn would have affected the overall average.

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How Is My Credit Score Calculated

Your credit score is based on whatâs in your credit report: a record of how youâve handled credit up until now, as well as other factors. If your report shows youâve managed your credit well, for example, you’re on time and not missing payments, your credit score is likely to be high. If it shows youâve made late payments, defaulted, or applied for a lot of credit in a short amount of time, your credit score might be lower.

Factors That Affect Your Credit Score

The factors that contribute to your credit score are divided into five categories.

• Payment History: If you have a credit card or a mortgage,making regular payments contributes to a good credit score. On the contrary, if you miss payments, the act could hurt your credit.
• The category covers the age of your different credit accounts. It also includes your most recent and oldest accounts ages.
• The category involves the balance in your accounts. Plus, it includes the amount you owe in debt.
• Account Types: The category is also known as credit mix, and it determines if youre managing revolving and installment accounts . If youre managing both types of accounts well, it reflects positively on your credit.
• Recent Activity: If youve recently opened an account or applied for one, it will affect your credit.

Call our Oklahoma today to find out how we can improve your credit score!

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Apply For Credit Sparingly

Avoid applying for a lot of credit in a relatively short period. Typically, a credit application results in a credit bureau checking your credit, and each hard inquiry can ding your credit score. Lots of credit applications in a short time can do more damage. Fortunately, the effect fades after about a year. Spacing applications out by about six months is the safest idea.

The Best Credit Cards For Excellent Credit

With excellent credit, you could be eligible for some of the best credit card offers.

This might include premium rewards cards that come with more-valuable rewards and top-notch perks like travel credits, free hotel nights, airport lounge access, complimentary upgrades and elite status. Keep in mind that these cards also tend to carry expensive annual fees and higher interest rates if you carry a balance. So youll have to weigh the benefits against the costs to see if its worth it for your wallet.

On the other hand, if youre paying down credit card debt, you also might see offers for the best balance transfer cards that come with longer 0% intro APR periods and higher credit limits.

Explore on Credit Karma to see whats available.

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What Is A Bad Credit Score Range

Bad credit score = 300 549: It is generally accepted that credit scores below 550 are going to result in a rejection of credit every time. If your score has fallen into this range, improving your score is going to take some work.

Filing for bankruptcy can bring a score down to this level. Statistically, borrowers with scores this low are delinquent approximately 75% of the time. But if you continue to make your payments on time, your score should improve. There are certain types of loans, like home loans, that are hard to get with a score in this range, but there are still options for getting a mortgage with bad credit.

How To Get A Good Credit Score

Good credit habits, practiced consistently, will build your score. Heres what you need to do:

• Pay bills on time. This is important because payment history has the largest impact of all the factors in your score. A missed or late payment can do tremendous damage to a credit score and it can stay on your credit report for up to seven years.

• Try to keep your credit card balances well below your credit limits aim for, and lower is better. High utilization dings your score, but the damage will fade when you’re able to reduce your balances and the lower utilization shows up on your credit reports. You also may be able to lower utilization by getting a higher credit limit or becoming an authorized user on a lightly used card with a large limit.

• Keep credit accounts open unless there is a compelling reason, such as high fees or poor service, to close them. Keeping older accounts open helps your average age of accounts, which has a small influence on your score. Also, closing an account cuts into your overall credit limit, driving up your credit utilization.

• Avoid making several credit applications in a short time frame. Credit checks for the purpose of credit decisions can cause a small, temporary dip in your score, and several in a short time can add up. That’s why it’s important to research credit cards before you apply.

• Monitor your credit reports and dispute information you believe is incorrect or too old to be included .

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