The greatest terms will be available to you, which is the main advantage of having impeccable credit. The interest rates you pay on loans will be better the better your credit score is. For instance, having impeccable credit makes it much simpler to be approved for a 0% APR contract if you want to finance a car. Because more of your payment is applied to the principal at lower interest rates, you’ll save money and be able to pay off your debt faster. Lower interest rates may also enable you to take out larger loans.
When it comes to credit cards, having perfect credit might also result in better benefits. If you have good credit, for instance, you might be eligible for a card with a 40,000-point introductory bonus, but if you have exceptional or perfect credit, you might be eligible for a card with a 100,000-point incentive. A perfect score might significantly impact the kind of cards you are offered if you use credit primarily to gain rewards.
What are the requirements for membership in the club with the flawless credit score?
A flawless score is quite uncommon, and very few people ever achieve it. However, don’t allow that fact deter you. Excellent credit is just as good as perfect when it comes to receiving those incredible credit terms, even if it is below the 850 threshold.
However, there is no secret to having excellent credit. Discipline and wise financial practices are all that are actually required. Continue reading to discover how to join the credit elite.
What exactly is a perfect credit score?
It helps to have some general knowledge of credit ratings before you can describe what perfect credit is. Your credit report contains information about the different types of credit products you use (and have used in the past), how much you owe, how much credit has been given to you, and how promptly you make your payments. These details are used to determine your credit score. The three main credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, produce consumer credit reports.
You have multiple credit scores available to you. dozens, in fact. The FICO® score and the VantageScore® are the two most well-known scoring models out of the many that exist. The Fair Isaac Corporation generates FICO® scores, while the three credit bureaus provide VantageScores®.
Ranges of credit scores
Scores are computed differently by FICO® and VantageScore®, but the range is the same: 300 to 850. Credit reporting agencies do not determine whether a score is good or negative. Lenders make that decision on their own. Each lender establishes its own cutoffs for each range of credit scores, but many resemble these:
| Category | Range |
|---|---|
| Excellent | 750 to 850 |
| Good | 700 to 749 |
| Fair | 650 to 699 |
| Poor | 550 to 649 |
| Bad | 549 & Below |
The highest possible score is 850, while the lowest is 300. Any lender that sees a score over 760 is quite likely to label it “excellent” and grant the borrower the best terms.
On the FICO® scale but not the VantageScore® scale, a perfect score is conceivable, and vice versa. Additionally, depending on the information in your credit reports, your Experian FICO® score may differ from your Equifax or TransUnion FICO® score. Are you prepared for a new level of complexity? Depending on who is looking, your credit score can change. Mortgage lenders see a score that is specific to the mortgage sector, while car lenders see a score that is specific to the auto market. Other sectors require different scoring systems.
Credit scores can and do vary over time; they are not fixed. Every time information in your credit file is updated, your score is also updated. Changes are almost a given. For instance, the average age of your accounts makes up a portion of your credit score. Your accounts age one month each month, so even if nothing else happened but time passing, you might notice a change in your score.
It’s entirely feasible to reach the 850 point but then drop below it.
Joining the 850 club with a flawless score
For membership in the ideal credit score club, no magic is needed. Having a solid understanding of how credit scores are determined is the first step in the process.
For instance, FICO® scores are determined by five particular criteria:
- Financial history
- Utilizing credit (the amount of debt you carry in relation to the amount of credit you have)
- Your credit history’s age
- Credit products you utilize
- Inquiries
These elements have various effects on your score. The most significant factor is payment history, followed by credit use.
The split in the VantageScore® appears slightly different. This simulation considers:
- Financial history
- Age and credit type
- Percent of available credit used
- Total accounts and debt
- Recent enquiries and credit behavior
- Accessible credit
Once more, payment history is very important. Age of credit history, the kind of credit you utilize, and credit usage all have a significant impact.
You can strive to develop a plan to achieve the ideal credit score target now that you are aware of the variables taken into account when your FICO® and VantageScore® are generated. To get an A+, follow these instructions:
1. Always pay your payments on schedule.
A consumer with a history of late payments or collections will find it extremely difficult to achieve a flawless score. Your credit report might reflect negative items like collection accounts and charge-offs for a period of seven years. Your Chapter 13 bankruptcy remains on record for ten years. Your file will always contain any outstanding tax liens. For the first two years, all of these factors often have the biggest negative effects on your credit score, but as time goes on, they may still prevent you from joining the exclusive club of people with flawless credit scores.
Create a flawless payment history right now. Make automatic payments so that you never forget a deadline. Use a calendar to keep track of payment dates if you prefer to plan payments individually or must pay some bills by check (and remember to allow yourself some wiggle room when you enter the due dates on the calendar). Allow for mail time if you need to mail a payment.
2. Increase your credit usage.
Even if your credit card has a modest limit, avoid using it to the fullest. The average amount of credit used by consumers with excellent credit ratings is around 7%. Each card’s use ratio is calculated individually and globally.
To go closer to a perfect score, if you have balances on one or more credit cards, pay them all down to under 10% of the available credit.
Make your payment before the balance is reported to the credit bureaus if you have a card that you use frequently but always pay off in full each month. To figure out when that is, you’ll need to contact the card company, but it typically happens on or shortly after the statement closure date each month. Otherwise, it can look that your utilization is unnaturally high. Keep in mind that not every time you make a transaction or a payment, the card issuer reports. Typically, those reports are submitted once each month (or two).
3. Vary how you use your credit
Although credit cards, school loans, auto loans, and mortgages are all forms of debt, they are not all treated equally when calculating credit scores. Revolving debt includes debt incurred on credit cards and credit lines. Revolving debt implies that as you make new purchases or make payments against your amount, your available credit—and what you owe—can increase or decrease over time.
However, loans are installment debt. A fixed payment amount and a set payoff date are characteristics of installment debt. You cannot increase the balance by making further purchases as you pay down the debt.
Both revolving debt and installment debt have an impact on your credit ratings, although revolving debt is more significant than installment debt. That’s because your credit usage is directly impacted by your revolving debt. It’s crucial to have both sorts of debt on your credit record because it demonstrates to lenders your capacity to handle various financial responsibilities.
4. If you can, start using credit right away.
Your credit history’s age is taken into account by both your FICO® and VantageScore® scores. The greater your credit history, the more experience you have. In your 20s, obtain a credit card and utilize it sensibly. When you’re in your 30s and ready to buy a house, you’ve already established a solid credit history.
Don’t rush to close any older credit accounts that you don’t use right away. The fact that the account has been closed implies you have less accessible credit, which might have a negative impact on your usage if you have balances on other cards. The account will still appear on your credit report. Furthermore, open accounts remain in your file eternally, increasing your average file age with each passing year, but closed accounts in good standing disappear from your credit report after ten years. Top-scoring credit-score holders frequently have accounts that are 20 or 25 years old or older.
5. Show snobbery when requesting new credit.
A new inquiry is made on your credit report when you apply for a loan or credit card and the lender does a credit check. A lot of inquiries in a short period of time can do more harm than a few inquiries alone, which only subtract a few points from your score each time. Additionally, if the borrower has had more than two or three inquiries in the previous six or 12 months, many creditors may immediately refuse an application.
The only exception is if you compare rates for certain types of loans (mortgage, auto loans or student loans). For them, there is a 14–45 day window where credit score treats all enquiries from the same type of lender as a single inquiry. You can enquire with a few lenders without worrying that the earlier inquiries would harm your chances on the later applications because these types of inquiries don’t affect your score at all for the first 30 days.
The scoring model being utilized determines the rate-shopping window. Lenders choose the scoring model they want to buy, and some might use an earlier model. If you want to be safe, keep your loan search to 14 days because you probably won’t be able to predict which credit score a lender will use.
There is no rate-shopping window if you’re looking for a credit card. Being picky is the best course of action. Before choosing a card, take your time to weigh your possibilities.
While inquiries are recorded in your file for two years, they only have an impact on your credit score for one.
Keeping your score perfect
You’re well on your way to having a flawless credit score if you follow these five wise credit habits. Once you’ve achieved a high score, keep the same behaviors.
Additionally, you should examine your credit report.
You can keep an eye out for changes that can have an impact on your credit score by regularly monitoring your credit.
Checking for indications of identity theft is the additional and possibly more crucial reason. In 2016, an estimated 154 million Americans were thought to have been victims of identity theft, and 15% of those affected claimed that they found out about the fraud by looking at their credit report.
Each of the three credit bureaus offers one free credit report each year. Sign up for the free credit monitoring service from Credit Sesame to receive more frequent updates. You can keep track of your progress with a free credit report card, and you’ll get email notifications if your credit score changes.
It never damages your credit to check your own report or score.
Is striving for perfection truly worthwhile?
Consider why you want it rather than concentrating on getting a flawless 850 credit score. Keep in mind that most lenders consider a 760 credit score to be equivalent to an 850 score. In other words, if your credit score is already in that high level, your chances of being denied credit or being forced to pay a higher rate are minimal to none.
