My FICO logo $$$$$$$$$$$ 9876 5432 1234 5678 CREDIT CARD KELLY SMITH 11/26 My FICO logo
SCORE
Skip Navigation
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Start Plan
 
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  •  
  • Education
    • Credit Education
    • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Scores Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
    • Blog
    • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
    • Know Your Rights
    • Identity Theft
    • FAQ
    • Glossary
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • How Can We Help
    • Monitor Credit & Identity
    • Mortgages
    • Credit Cards
    • Auto Loans
  • Credit Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • Credit Education
  • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Score Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
  • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
  • Blog
  • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
  • Know Your Rights
  • Identity Theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary
View all FICO Scores & Credit Reports articles

Do You Know the 5 Factors of FICO® Scores? Quiz Time!

July 24, 2018, by Rob Kaufman

There are 5 factors (categories of credit data), that make up your FICO® Score. These factors are:

  1. Payment History

  2. Amounts Owed

  3. Length of Credit History

  4. Credit Mix

  5. New Credit

So... how much do you know about each of these factors? We've created the "5 Factor Quiz" to help you test your knowledge about what makes up your credit score. And the best part? You can possibly learn new factor facts you might otherwise never have known. Good Luck!

5 Factors of your FICO Scores Quiz

  1. "Payment History" makes up X% of your FICO®

  2. 15%

  3. 25%

  4. 35%

  5. 45%

Answer: C . Payment history is an indication for lenders and creditors whether an individual is a lending risk due to a history of late or missed payments. Of all 5 factors, this one makes up the largest amount of your FICO® Score.

  1. "Credit History" is composed of 3 parts. Which one below is NOT one of those 3?

  2. How long each of your accounts has been open

  3. How long specific account "types" have been open (i.e. installment, revolving)

  4. The length of time since those accounts have been used

  5. The amount of time you've had a checking or savings account

Answer: D . To find these three items (A, B and C above) look no further than your credit reports. Within your reports (Experian, Equifax and Transunion), there's a listing of all your accounts, the type of account, the date each was opened and the last time you used each account.

  1. "Amounts Owed" refers to the percentage of your total debt compared to the amount of your credit limit.

  2. TRUE

  3. FALSE

Answer: B . "Amounts Owed" refers to how much total debt you carry. Credit Utilization is the percentage of your total debt compared to the amount of your credit limit - a very significant part of your FICO® Score's calculation.

  1. "Credit Mix" includes the different "types" of credit you have . For example: revolving accounts, installment accounts, open lines of credit, etc. An example of a revolving account would be:

  2. Mortgage

  3. Student Loan

  4. Retail Store Card

  5. Monthly Cable Bill

Answer: C . Revolving accounts are those that provide you with credit that allows more flexibility regarding the amount paid monthly (subject to any minimum payments required, and payment due dates, etc.).  Some of these include: Credit Cards, Retail Store Cards, Gas Station Cards and HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit).

  1. "New Credit" comprises 10% of your FICO® Applying for new credit can:

  2. Increase Your FICO® Score

  3. Decrease Your FICO® Score

  4. Increase or Decrease Your FICO® Score

Answer: C . Depending on the specific situation, "New Credit" can increase or decrease one's FICO® Score. For instance, when applying for new credit, an inquiry is placed on your credit report. Taking other credit report information into account, this "hard inquiry" can lower your score by a few points. However, if the new line of credit helps diversify the types of accounts you currently have, this can increase the "credit mix" factor of your credit score.

  1. AAoA is very connected to "Credit History". The letters AAoA stand for:

  2. Average Account over Assets

  3. Average Age of Accounts

  4. Account Advantages over Assets

Answer: B . FICO's formula for helping to determine your Length of Credit History also includes the Average Age of Accounts (AAoA). This number is calculated using your oldest and newest accounts divided by your total number of accounts. AAoA can affect your credit score in a number of ways. For instance, if you miss a credit card payment (or two), it could have more of an impact on your FICO® Score if you have a shorter credit history. On the other hand, if you have a very long history showing consistently on-time payments and miss a mortgage payment or open a new account, the damage to your score could be less.

To learn more about the 5 factors that make up your FICO® Score, check out any of the myFICO blogs below:

Payment History

Amounts Owed

Length of Credit History

Credit Mix

New Credit

Rob Kaufman

Rob is a writer... of blogs, books and business. His financial investment experience combined with a long background in marketing credit protection services provides a source of information that helps fill the gaps on one's journey toward financial well-being. His goal is simple: The more people he can help, the better.

Estimate your FICO Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO Score range

740 - 790
Estimate for Free

Instant Access to Your FICO® Score

90% of Top Lenders Use FICO® Scores. Do you know yours?

Get Access Now!

Page footer

Products

  • Home
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing

Learn

  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Blog

Company

  • About Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Program
  • Accessibility

Get Our App

  • Download iOS app on the App Store
  • fil_get
    Get Android app on the Google Play Store

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Credit Education

  • Credit scores
  • What is a FICO Score?
  • FICO Score versions
  • How scores are calculated
  • Payment history
  • Amount of debt
  • Length of credit history
  • Credit mix
  • New credit
  • Credit reports
  • What's in your report
  • Bureaus
  • Inquiries
  • Errors on your report?
  • Calculators
  • Know your rights
  • Identity theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Copyright ©2001- Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.

PRIVACY NOTICE: When you visit this website we collect your browsing activities on our site and use that information to analyze and research improvements to the website, and to our products and services. When you register for our products and services, we also collect certain personal information from you for identification purposes, such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, social security number, IP address, and date of birth. Further information is available in our FICO Data Privacy Policy. For visitors with visual disabilities, access to this website, including our FICO Data Privacy Policy, is available through assistive technologies, such as BrowseAloud, JAWS, VoiceOver, Narrator, ChromeVox, and Window-Eyes. More details on software and accessibility are available at WebAIM.org.