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Credit Report Resources

Credit Scoring

What is credit scoring?

Credit scoring is a method used by lenders to help decide whether or not you are a good candidate for a loan.
Lenders employ a credit scoring system to determine your credit score:

  • Compares information in your credit report to the performance of consumers who have similar credit characteristics.
  • Examines many credit characteristics including your payment history, the number and kind of accounts you have, the number and frequency of late payments, and any collections or bankruptcies.
  • Generally speaking, positive credit characteristics make your score higher and help you to qualify for better loans.
  • Negative characteristics make your score lower and may interfere with your ability to qualify for the best loan terms.


How is a credit scoring model developed?

A lender creates a credit scoring model by using several criteria:

  • Selecting a large sampling of customers
  • Analyzing the data in their credit reports to determine which factors relate to creditworthiness
  • Assigning a degree of importance to each of the factors, based on how accurate a predictor it is in determining who will repay their loan on time.
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