Your credit score isn’t all it’s made up to be

Your credit score is important, but other factors matter, too!

You put good in and you get good out. When it comes to increasing your credit score, putting good in means making your payments on time! You take on some secured or unsecured debt and make payments on time, and you get good out when your credit score rises. While banks and credit unions use your credit score to determine if they can offer you a loan, that’s not the only thing they consider. A couple other factors are:

Job history

Job history is important to financial institutions because it shows that you have a way to pay back the money they loaned you. It shows that not only do you have a job now, but you’re most likely to have a job in the future. The type of loan that you’re getting might determine how much work experience you need.

Debt-to-income ratio

Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is important because it shows whether you have a healthy amount of debt compared to your income. Your DTI is all your monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income. Learn more about DTI from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.