 TITLE: Can I Raise My Credit Score by 100 Points? CONTENT: What Factors Affect Your Credit Score?\n--------------------------------------\nThere are five major factors that affect your FICO® Score. And even though some have more influence on your score than others, it's important to take a holistic approach in your efforts to build credit.\n*   **Payment history**: On-time payments are crucial to building and maintaining good credit. If you have late payments on your credit reports, get caught up as soon as possible. Also, make it a goal to pay your bills on time and in full every month. If you worry you'll miss a payment, contact your creditor as soon as possible to understand your options, and to talk about possible accommodations so your credit isn't affected.\n*   **Amounts owed**: The total amount you owe in debt is important, and shows lenders that you've made progress on your existing accounts. This factor also focuses on your credit utilization rate, which measures the percentage of your available credit on credit cards that you're using. The lower your balance is relative to your credit limit, the better your utilization rate will be for your credit score.\n*   **Length of credit history**: The longer you've been using credit, the more data lenders have to ascertain how well you manage your credit accounts. Your FICO® Score calculation also includes the average age of your accounts, so frequently opening new accounts can have a negative impact on your score.\n*   **New credit**: Virtually every time you apply for credit, the lender will run a credit check to gauge your creditworthiness. This will result in a hard inquiry on your credit report, which can knock a few points off your score temporarily. If you apply for multiple accounts in a short period—except for in situations where you're shopping around for a loan—it can have a compounding negative impact on your score.\n*   **Credit mix**: In general, being able to manage multiple types of credit, such as credit cards, auto loans, mortgages and student loans, can have a positive impact on your credit score. However, it's not wise to open several new credit accounts solely to improve your credit mix. Diversifying your credit mix often occurs naturally over time. END