When thinking about your credit score you may have heard a lot of information. Team AFN is here to sort out the myths you may hear.

Checking Your Credit Hurts Your Score: You can check your credit as many times as you want without hurting your credit score as long as you’re using credit scoring services to check your credit score.

You Have to Make a Lot of Money to Have a Good Credit Score: How much money you have only indirectly affects your credit score. Income isn’t a factor in your credit score. No matter how much money you have, paying your bills on time is the best thing you can do for your credit score.

Each Person Has Just One Credit Score: Each person has several credit scores because there are several different credit scoring models. And for each credit scoring model, there are three different credit scores for each of the major credit bureaus.

I Should Close My Account For My Unused Card: When you close an unused account, the available credit limit is no longer factored into your revolving utilization. If you carry an outstanding balance on any other credit cards, closing a zero-balance account could result in a higher overall revolving utilization ratio, which in turn could cause your credit score to drop.

Getting Married Will Merge Your Credit Scores: You and your spouse will continue to maintain separate credit histories and credit scores after you tie the knot. Joint accounts will affect both of your credit scores, but individually-held accounts will affect only that account holder’s credit score.

Bad Credit Score Means You’ll Never Be Approved for Anything: A bad credit score makes it harder to get approved, but it’s not the only factor that creditors and lenders consider when evaluating your creditworthiness. Income and level of debt are other factors that play a role. You can be approved even with a bad credit score, but required to pay a security deposit or a higher interest rate.

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