We want to make it easier for you to learn vocabulary related to credit score, so here's a glossary of words related to credit score. Note that if you're looking for credit card terms, we have another article for that.
Related: Credit Card Glossary (50 Terms)
A Average Age of Accounts : The average time your accounts have been opened. This is often an indicator of how long you've been managing credit.
Available Credit : The remaining amount you are able to lend from loan and credit card issuers. This is calculated by deducting unpaid balances from your credit lines combined.
B Bankruptcy : A person under debt may seek to be relieved of their debts through declaring bankruptcy. A U.S. bankruptcy court may then relieve the person of some if not all of their debts. Bankruptcy is a public record and will remain on your credit report for 7-10 years. It will seriously affect your credit score.
C Credit Bureau : A credit reporting agency that collects and reports credit information on firms and individuals.
Credit Risk : The risk creditors take when they issue loans and credit cards. The less creditworthy a person is, the greater the risk the creditor has to take.
Credit History : A record of how well a person has managed their credit accounts in the past.
Credit Report : A report of your credit history.
Credit Score : The score generated by a statistical model used by lenders to assess credit risk on an individual or organization.
Closed Account : An account that has been closed. Delinquent accounts will remain on your credit report for up to 7 years. Positive accounts might remain longer.
Collection Account : An account that has been marked for collection agency for collection. Collection accounts will remain on your credit report for 7 years.
Charged-off : A way of saying that the debt is unlikely to be collected. Creditors mark an account as charged off if it is seriously delinquent. Accounts that are charged-off will remain on your record for 7 years.
D Delinquency : Failure to pay the minimum payment by the due date.
Default : Failure to pay the minimum payment by the due date for multiple statement periods. Being delinquent for an extended period of time will result in default.
E Equifax : One of the top three U.S. credit bureaus.
Experian : One of the top three U.S. credit bureaus.
F FICO : Fair Isaac Corporation, which created the FICO credit score that is used by 90% of top lenders for creditworthy assessments.
FCRA : Federal law regulating how credit bureaus report your credit information.
L Length of Credit : The age of your oldest account, which is used to determine creditworthiness.
Late Payment : A late payment is a payment made past the due date, which breaches the loan or credit card agreement. Late payment is a delinquent payment.
M Missed Payments : The number of times you failed to pay the minimum payment on time.
H Hard Inquiry / Hard Pull : A request for one's credit history by a creditor. A hard inquiry will result in a new entry on your credit report (regardless of your approval) and might negatively affect your score.
O Oldest Account : The oldest credit account you have on your credit report. We recommend keeping the account open as having an old, well-maintained account is an indicator of creditworthiness.
P Payment History : The consistency of past on-time payments.
R Revolving Account : An account that doesn't require the balances be paid in full by each statement period. Most credit card accounts are revolving accounts.
Recent Accounts / Recent Credit : The number of recent accounts opened. Too many accounts opened recently translates to increased credit risk for issuers.
S Soft Inquiry / Soft Pull : A request for one's credit history, usually initiated by credit monitoring services or when you're considered for pre-approval. Soft inquiries do not show up on your credit report and do not harm your credit score.
T TransUnion : One of the three largest U.S. credit bureaus.
Total Accounts : Total number of accounts opened.
U Utilization Ratio : Total balance over total credit limit. Credit scores that take utilization ratio into account usually only look at the utilization of your revolving accounts.
V VantageScore Report : FICO score's competitor. Usually used as a consumer-facing educational score reporting their credit standing. VantageScore is generally not used by lenders to assess credit risk.
