Other countries have them as well but the US has the most pervasive one.
Your credit score is based on the history of accounts and payments. If you have late payments it goes down. If you have many accounts for a long time in good standing it is goes up. A person who has many accounts and has paid off everything for 15 years might have a score of 800. Someone who has missed credit card payments and has things in collections might have a 550.
When you go to get a loan for a house or car the high credit score person might be given a 5% loan and the low credit score person no loan or a very poor rate sometimes over 20%. It can take years to change your credit score.
Other countries have them as well but the US has the most pervasive one.
Your credit score is based on the history of accounts and payments. If you have late payments it goes down. If you have many accounts for a long time in good standing it is goes up. A person who has many accounts and has paid off everything for 15 years might have a score of 800. Someone who has missed credit card payments and has things in collections might have a 550.
When you go to get a loan for a house or car the high credit score person might be given a 5% loan and the low credit score person no loan or a very poor rate sometimes over 20%. It can take years to change your credit score.