The five factors that determine your Credit Score are:

• Payment History (approximately 35% of your score) - The factor that has the biggest impact on your score is whether you've paid past credit accounts on time. However, an overall good credit picture can outweigh a few late payments, and late payments will continue to have less impact over time unless the late payment is a mortgage payment.
  
  
• Amounts Owed (approximately 30%) - Having credit accounts and owing money doesn't mean you're a high-risk borrower. But owing a lot of money on numerous accounts can suggest that you are financially overextended and more likely to make some payments late or not at all. Part of the science of scoring is determining how much debt is too much for a given credit profile.
  
  
• Length of Credit History (approximately 15%) - In general, a longer credit history will increase your FICO score. It shows that you can responsibly manage your available credit over time. However, even people who have not been using credit very long may get high scores, depending on how the rest of their credit report looks.
  
  
• New Credit (approximately 10%) - People today tend to have more credit and to shop for credit more frequently. But opening several credit accounts in a short period of time can represent greater risk - especially for people with short credit histories. Requests for new credit can also represent greater risk. However, FICO scores are able to distinguish between a search for many new credit accounts and rate shopping. FICO scores generally do not equate your rate search with higher credit risk.
  
  
• Types of Credit in Use (approximately 10%) - Your FICO score will reflect a combination of credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company accounts and mortgage loans. While a healthy mix will improve your score, it is not necessary to have one of each, and it is not a good idea to open credit accounts you don't intend to use. The credit mix usually won't be a key factor in determining your score, but it will be more important if your credit report doesn't have much other information on which to base a score.