How Is Your Fico Score Determined?

Here’s a rundown of what goes into your credit score, and the relative importance of each component:

Payment History – 35%
Amounts Owed – 30%
Length of Credit History – 15%
New Credit – 10%
Types of Credit Used – 10%

So if you want to maintain a high credit score, you’ll obviously want to pay on time and keep your credit utilization low (i.e., keep your balances low relative to your credit limits). It’s also a good idea to keep old cards open even if you don’t use them — after all, this increases the average age of your cards, and also decreases your utilization.