50% Of Adult Americans Unaware Of Factors Affecting Their Credit Scores

Your credit score might be a small three-digit number, but it provides a lot of insight with respect to available credit, debit-to-credit ratio, credit diversity, payment history and much more. According to the 2nd annual TransUnion survey, almost 50% of adult Americans misinterpret their credit scores by identifying wrong factors that don’t have any effect on their credit scores.

The survey reveals that most people, who regularly check their scores, are unaware of the factors that drive their credit score up or down. 58% believe their salaries to influence the score while 56% think their employment history to be the reason behind their plummeting score. Approximately 52% people think age as the influential factor. In reality, none of these notions are correct. As many as 54% think wrongly that their credit score is proportional to their raises while 33% believe the score to be proportional to their savings.

Unfortunately, the number of people confused with what affects their credit score is on the rise. For instance, according to TransUnion, the percentage of people last year who believed their score to be proportional to their raises was 47%, while it has gone up to 54% this year.

Millennials too aren’t untouched by this misconception. According to the survey, 70% of the adults aged between 18 and 34 stay away from checking their credit reports thinking it would adversely affect their scores. In reality, the scenario is completely different – you should regularly check your credit report for any errors and correct them immediately to avoid being delayed from achieving your financial goals.

According to John Danaher, president of TransUnion Consumer Interactive, regular checking of credit score is a crucial part of consumers’ financial responsibility. He adds further that even those who keep track of their scores mostly skim the surface of their credit reports and aren’t well informed about the factors affecting their score.

Your credit score provides you with information related to your debt-to-credit ratio, available credit, credit diversity and payment history, together with the duration for which you have had your lines of credit and whether new lines of credit have been opened recently. All these make it important for you to know what affects your credit score.