What makes up your credit score?

Ever wonder what’s going on behind the scenes of your credit score?

Here’s a brief guide to help you understand:

 How your credit score is calculated

 What the numbers mean

 What influences your credit score

This graphic shows in general how credit scores are compiled. But please note that Canadian credit bureaus sometimes adjust the weighting of these categories.

Here are a few tips for keeping your credit in good shape: 

 Pay everything a few days before the due date to make sure it’s paid on time. (Setting up

automatic payments – especially on cell phone bills— helps avoid ‘lates’ reported to your credit bureau.)

 Keep revolving credit (such as credit cards) at no more than 75% to 80% of the limit and strive to pay them off completely over a period of time (i.e. 3 to 5 years or less). Revolving credit is meant to be paid off. 

 If you want to buy something and you can’t pay it off in 30 days, don’t buy it with a credit card.

Keep saving up for it.