subject: Average Credit Score Stats Are Surprising [print this page] A typical consumer here in the United States has a total of 13 credit accounts on their credit bureau report, according to Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO). Among these 13 credit accounts are credit cards (including department store charge cards, gas cards, or bank cards) and installment loans (auto loans, mortgage loans, student loans, etc.). Of these 13 credit accounts, 9 credit accounts are likely to be credit cards and 4 credit accounts are likely to be installment loans.
Why Do I Need My Credit Scores From All 3 Bureaus?
Accuracy: you get to check your three credit scores to confirm their accuracy.
Alerts: you get to reduce your risk of identity theft and fraud with monitoring service on all 3 credit bureaus.
Assessment: you get to ask target lenders to use all three bureaus to assess your credit worthiness.
Power: you get the knowledge that lets you negotiate the best interest rates possible.
There are services available out there for consumers to choose from which enable you to try credit monitoring and see all three of their credit scores.
Most Consumer Pay Bills On Time
By and large, most consumers pay their bills on time. In fact, our research uncovered that only 3 out of 10 consumers have ever been 60 or more days overdue on any credit account. 77% of all consumers have never had an account that was 90+ days overdue, and less than 20% have ever had an account closed on them by the lender due to default. The typical consumer has access to approximately $19,000 on all their credit cards combined. More than half of all people with credit cards are using less than 30% of their total credit card limit (maintaining under $6,000 in debt). Just over 1 in 7 are using 80% or more of their credit card limit (exceeding $15,000 in debt).
Applications For New Credit
When you apply for credit, it triggers an inquiry on your credit report. A large number of inquiries can negatively affect your credit score because this can be interpreted as the consumer getting declined all over town. According to Fair Isaac Corporation, the average consumer has only one inquiry per year. If you have a lot more inquiries than that, and are concerned about the impact on your credit score, consider a credit monitoring service which includes monitoring and access to all three of your credit scores.
