 TITLE: What Kinds of Bills Affect Credit Scores? CONTENT: Other Credit Score Factors\n--------------------------\nWhile payment history is the most significant credit scoring factor, several other factors affect your credit scores. Fair, Isaac Corp., the maker of the FICO® Score, ranks the following additional factors, in decreasing order of influence on your FICO scores:\n*   **Usage rate on revolving credit** is responsible for nearly one-third (30%) of your credit score. Usage rate, or credit utilization ratio, is a technical way of describing how close you are to \"maxing out\" your credit card accounts. You can calculate your total utilization rate by dividing the sum of all balances by the sum of all spending limits. Most experts agree that utilization rates in excess of 30%, on individual accounts and all accounts in total, tend to drive down credit scores.\n*   **Age of credit accounts** is responsible for as much as 15% of your credit score. If you pay your bills on time and keep your usage rates within prudent ranges, then the longer you're a credit user, the higher your credit score is likely to be. There's not much that can be done about that if you're a new borrower, but if you manage your credit carefully, your credit score will tend to increase over time.\n*   **Total debt composition**, or credit mix, is responsible for about 10% of your credit score. The FICO credit scoring system tends to favor individuals with multiple loan accounts, consisting of a mix of installment loans and revolving credit.\n*   **Credit applications and new credit accounts** typically have short-term negative effects on your credit score. When you apply for new credit or take on additional debt, lenders consider you at greater risk for being able to pay your bills. Scoring systems such as FICO can cause scores to dip a bit when that happens, but your scores will typically rebound within a few months as long as you keep up with all your payments. New credit activity can contribute up to 10% of your overall credit score.\n*   **Negative entries** on your credit report, such as bankruptcies, can have severe negative impacts on your credit scores. Because they do not appear in every credit report, these entries cannot be compared to other credit score influences in terms of percentage, but they can outweigh all other factors and severely lower your credit score. A bankruptcy, for instance, can remain on your credit report for up to 10 years, and may effectively prevent you from getting credit for much or all of that time.\nIf you'd like to see your timely payments of utility and telecom bills reflected in your credit score and would like to gain free access to your Experian credit report and FICO® Score 8 credit score in the bargain, consider enrolling in the Experian Boost program. In the meantime, make sure you are practicing responsible credit habits and checking your credit report to ensure you're doing everything you can to continue building your credit history. END