credit score

[kred-it skawr]

noun

Personal Finance.

1. a numerical ranking of an individual’s financial creditworthiness based on spending and credit history, indicating to potential lenders and credit card issuers the individual’s capacity and likelihood to make timely payments of amounts due on loans or credit cards.

Word History and Origins

Origin of credit score¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Use these 6 tips to preserve your credit score — and your sanity.

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Price: When I switched to finance as a major in college, I was expecting to learn the basics — how to file taxes, what a credit score means and why any of it matters in my own life.

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Your income doesn’t factor into your credit score, but it does affect how much lenders will let you borrow, said Matt Schulz, chief consumer-finance analyst at LendingTree.

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When you increase your limit but keep your balance the same, you lower this ratio, which can significantly improve your credit score.

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Keep in mind that your card issuer could do a hard pull on your credit when deciding whether to extend your limit, according to Schulz, which typically leads to a small, temporary dip in your credit score.

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