What Affects Your Credit Score?

These 5 Things
5 Factors That Affect Your Credit Score
By Dana Anspach, About.com Guide See More About:

credit scores managing debt budgeting foreclosures

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To make the most of your credit, you need to know exactly how your credit score is calculated. There are five components to your score and some carry more weight than others. In 2009, changes were made to the way credit scores are calculated. Below is an outline of the five major components to your credit score, and the changes that have been made.

1. Payment History In The Past This Has Been The Largest Factor In Your Credit Score
Prior to 2009, 35% of your credit score was based on your payment history. Paying on time can still mean the difference between average and exceptional credit, but now one slip up won't hurt

as much. If you have a history of paying on time across most of your accounts, but have an occasional mess up and pay late, this wont affect your credit score as much as it used to. Since this category has such a big impact on your overall credit score, when you go through a foreclosure (or short sale) it is not just the foreclosure that impacts your credit, but also the months of late payments that precede the foreclosure. For more information on this read How Does A Foreclosure Or Shortsale Affect Your Credit Score?

2. Amount Borrowed Compared To Available Credit Now A Bigger Factor In Your Credit Score
The next major component, which historically has accounted for 30% of your credit score, is the amount of revolving debt you owe in relation to your available balances. It is calculated on an individual account basis and an overall basis. Although we dont know the exact weighting of this factor, in 2009, your overall debt will play a bigger role in your credit score than it has in the past. It may now have a bigger affect on your credit score than your payment history. What can you do? Make sure you dont borrow more than 50% of your available balance from any single lender, and ideally you want to borrow less than 33% of your available balances. This means contrary to popular belief, it is better to owe a smaller amount on several cards than to max one card to its limit.

3. Length of Credit History - Raise Your Credit Score By Keeping Accounts Open Over 7 Years
Your length of credit history comprises about 15% of your score. People with credit scores over 800 typically hold at least three credit cards (with low balances) which they have had open for over seven years each. Rather than closing accounts it is best to work toward paying them off, and then let the accounts remain open with a a small amount of activity that is paid off each month.

4. Inquiries and New Debt - These Lower Your Credit Score

5. Type of Debt - Installment Debt More Favorable To Your Credit Score Than Credit Card Debt
The last 10% of your score is based on the type of credit; installment vs. revolving debt. Installment debt, such as an auto loan, is looked upon more favorably than revolving (credit

card) debt. In addition, with the 2009 changes, you now get points for your ability to successfully manage multiple types of debt; a mortgage, auto loan and credit cards, for example.

Disclosure of credit rating On the basis of recommendations of the Committee set up to frame regulations for Credit Rating Agencies, the following additional requirements for companies issuing debt securities to public/ on rights basis, have been prescribed:

All companies making public or rights issue of debt instrument (including convertible instrument) irrespective of their maturity/conversion period, shall obtain credit rating by at least one approved credit rating agency and disclose it in the offer document. Where credit rating is obtained from more than one approved credit rating agency, all the credit ratings, including the unaccepted ratings, shall be disclosed. The issuer shall give an undertaking in the offer document stating that they would give necessary co-operation to the credit rating agency (s) in providing true and adequate information till the debt obligations in respect of the securities are outstanding

What Is A Corporate Credit Rating?

Print Posted: Sep 26, 2009 | Filed under Bonds Credit Reprints

Fixed Income Insurance

Reem Heakal
Contact | Author Bio <script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> document.write('<a href="http://ops.investopedia.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/investopedia.com/bonds/L22/186 7765903/x20/Investo/IPFXC1102_12_250x250_AF_ROS/IPFXC1102_12_250x250_AF_ROS_ 2011-02-01.html/6571676d496b346d6b763041425a7475? http://clk.atdmt.com/FXM/go/169829149/direct;wi.250;hi.250/01/1867765903" target="_blank"><img src="http://view.atdmt.com/FXM/view/169829149/direct;wi.250;hi.250/01/1867765903"/></a>') ; </script><noscript><a href="http://ops.investopedia.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/investopedia.com/bonds/L22/186 7765903/x20/Investo/IPFXC1102_12_250x250_AF_ROS/IPFXC1102_12_250x250_AF_ROS_ 2011-02-01.html/6571676d496b346d6b763041425a7475? http://clk.atdmt.com/FXM/go/169829149/direct;wi.250;hi.250/01/1867765903" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://view.atdmt.com/FXM/view/169829149/direct;wi.250;hi.250/01/1867765903" /></a></noscript> Before you decide whether to invest into a debt security from a company or foreign country, you must determine whether the prospective entity will be able to meet its obligations. A ratings company can help you do this. Providing independent objective assessments of the credit worthiness of companies and countries, a credit ratings company helps investors decide how risky it is to invest money in a certain country and/or security. Credit in the Investment World As investment opportunities become more global and diverse, it is difficult to decide not only which companies but also which countries are good investment opportunities. There are advantages to investing in foreign markets, but the risks associated with sending money abroad are considerably higher than those associated with investing in your own domestic market. (For more insight, see Pros And Cons Of Offshore Investing.)It is important to gain insight into different investment environments but also to understand the risks and advantages these environments pose. Measuring the ability and willingness of an entity - which could be a person, a corporation, a security or a country - to keep its financial commitments or its debt, credit ratings are essential tools for helping you make some investment decisions. The Raters There are three top agencies that deal in credit ratings for the investment world. These are:

Moody's, Standard and Poor's (S&P's) and Fitch IBCA. Each of these agencies aim to provide a rating system to help investors determine the risk associated with investing in a specific company, investing instrument or market. Ratings can be assigned to short-term and long-term debt obligations as well as securities, loans, preferred stock and insurance companies. Long-term credit ratings tend to be more indicative of a country's investment surroundings and/or a company's ability to honor its debt responsibilities. For a government or company it is sometimes easier to pay back local-currency obligations than it is to pay foreign-currency obligations. The ratings therefore assess an entity's ability to pay debts in both foreign and local currencies. A lack of foreign reserves, for example, may warrant a lower rating for those obligations a country made in foreign currency. It is important to note that ratings are not equal to or the same as buy, sell or hold recommendations. Ratings are rather a measure of an entity's ability and willingness to repay debt. The Ratings Are In The ratings lie on a spectrum ranging between highest credit quality on one end and default or "junk" on the other. Longterm credit ratings are denoted with a letter: a triple A (AAA) is the highest credit quality, and C or D (depending on the agency issuing the rating) is the lowest or junk quality. Within this spectrum there are different degrees of each rating, which are, depending on the agency, sometimes denoted by a plus or negative sign or a number. Thus, for Fitch IBCA, a "AAA" rating signifies the highest investment grade and means that there is very low credit risk. "AA" represents very high credit quality; "A" means high credit quality, and "BBB" is good credit quality. These ratings are considered to be investment grade, which means that the security or the entity being rated carries a level of quality that many institutions require when considering overseas investments. Ratings that fall under "BBB" are considered to be speculative or junk. Thus for Moody's a Ba2 would be a speculative grade rating while for S&P's, a "D" denotes default of junk bond status. Here is a chart that gives an overview of the different ratings symbols that Moody's and Standard and Poor's issue: Bond Rating Moody's Aaa Aa A Baa Ba, B Caa/Ca/C C Standard & Poor's AAA AA A BBB BB, B CCC/CC/C D Grade Investment Investment Investment Investment Junk Junk Junk Risk Lowest Risk Low Risk Low Risk Medium Risk High Risk Highest Risk In Default

Sovereign Credit Ratings As previously mentioned, a rating can refer to an entity's specific financial obligation or to its general creditworthiness. A sovereign credit rating provides the latter as it signifies a country's overall ability to provide a secure investment environment. This rating reflects factors such as a country's economic status, transparency in the capital market, levels of public and private investment flows, foreign direct investment, foreign currency reserves, political stability, or the ability for a country's economy to remain stable despite political change. Because it is the doorway into a country's investment atmosphere, the sovereign rating is the first thing most institutional investors will look at when making a decision to invest money abroad. This rating gives the investor an immediate understanding of the level of risk associated with investing in the country. A country with a sovereign rating will therefore get more attention than one without. So to attract foreign money, most countries will strive to obtain a sovereign rating and they will strive even more so to reach investment grade. In most circumstances, a country's sovereign credit rating will be its upper limit of credit ratings. Conclusion A credit rating is a useful tool not only for the investor, but also for the entities looking for investors. An investment grade rating can put a security, company or country on the global radar, attracting foreign money and boosting a nation's economy. Indeed, for emerging market economies, the credit rating is key to showing their worthiness of money from foreign investors. (To read more, see What Is An Emerging Market Economy?) And because the credit rating acts to facilitate investments, many countries and companies will strive to maintain and improve their ratings, hence ensuring a stable political environment and a more transparent capital market. Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/03/102203.asp#ixzz1NZV53mQl
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