 TITLE: What’s the Most Important Factor of Your Credit Score? CONTENT: What Bills Affect My Payment History?\n-------------------------------------\nSeveral kinds of bills affect your payment history. These include:\n*   Credit cards, including Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover cards\n*   Retail credit cards from stores\n*   Installment loans, such as auto loans and mortgages, that involve making regular payments for a set term\n*   Accounts from finance companies\nIn addition to these accounts, FICO considers bankruptcies and collection accounts as part of payment history. Both can have a significant negative effect on your scores.\nBills from providers of phone, utility, cable TV and streaming services also may affect your payment history. In the past, these accounts would only impact your credit if they were sent to collections as a result of non-payment, in which case they'll stay on your credit report for seven years and negatively affect your score.\nToday, these accounts can actually help improve your credit score, through Experian Boost™† . With Experian Boost, you can allow Experian to securely access your online payment history for phone, utility, cable TV and certain streaming service providers. Then, on-time payments on authorized accounts will start showing up on your Experian credit report, and your FICO® Score may get a boost. END