Wanda Strickfaden's presentation that gives others education about how factor play a part in the scoring system.

1. 1
Unlocking The Secrets of Credit Scoring
by
Wanda Strickfaden, president
Improve Credit, LLC
www.ICDebt.com

2. 2
Unlocking The Secrets of Credit Scoring
 Positive Payment History
 Staying below 30% of your credit limit
 Having an account of 12 months or older
 Hard Inquiries
 Having a good mixture of credit

3. 3
Payment History
Approximately 35% of your FICO score is based on this category.
Pay your bills on time
 Delinquent payments and collections can have a major
negative impact on your FICO score.
 The longer you pay your bills on time, the better your FICO
Score.
 Be aware of your options prior to becoming delinquent on
your active accounts. Call your creditor and negotiate a
payment plan. Make sure you explain that you do not want
to become delinquent, nor do you want a delinquency
reported on your credit report.

4. Amounts Owed
Approximately 30% of your FICO score is based on this
category.
Stay below 30% of your credit limit
 High outstanding debt can lower your FICO Score. Don’t
close unused credit cards as a short term strategy to
raise your FICO score.
 Don’t open a number of new credit cards that you don’t
need, just to increase your available credit. This option
should be researched carefully prior to considering this
process.
4

5. 5
Length of Credit History
Approximately 15% of your FICO score is based on this
category.
A longer credit history will increase your score
 Your FICO Score considers the age of your oldest
account, the age of your newest account and an
average of all your accounts.
 The length of time since your accounts have been
established.
 How long it has been since you used certain accounts.

6. 6
New Credit
Approximately 10% of your FICO score is based on this
category.
Re-establishing new credit
 Open an unsecured line of credit with your own cash at
your local credit union or bank.
 Pay this line of credit off every month to re-establish your
credit.
 Note: It’s OK to request and check your own credit report
and your own FICO Score with all three bureaus for free
once per year. This type of pull is considered a “soft pull”;
which will not decrease your credit score.

7. Types of Credit Used
Approximately 10% of your FICO score is based on this
category.
Having a mixture of credit is ideal
 Having an installment loan, revolving account, and
mortgage is considered a good mixture of credit.
 An installment loan can be a personal loan, or student loan.
A revolving account can be a home equity line of credit, or
credit card.
 Your FICO score also looks at the total number of accounts
you have for different credit profiles; how many is too many
will vary, depending on your overall credit picture.
7

8. 8
Credit Score
Your score can range from 300 up to 850.
FICO Credit Scores
 300 – 639 is considered the poor range
 640 – 679 is considered the average range
 680 – 699 is considered the good range
 700 – 850 is considered excellent range.
Did you know that only 13% of the population have a credit score
of 800 or above.

9. 9
Unlocking The Secrets of Credit Scoring
Wanda Strickfaden
Improve Credit Consulting Firm
wanda@improvecredit.biz
www.ICDebt.com
Call 704-877-8739 for your credit consultation!