Credit scores play an important role in a consumer’s financial life. Financial institutions use credit scoring models like VantageScore® along with other information to make decisions on who to approve for a loan and what terms to offer. A higher credit scoreincreases the chances for approval for a new loan, a higher credit amount or a lower interest rate.

In this article, we provide insights on the key factors impacting a consumer’s VantageScore credit score and walk through some specific actions that can lead to changes in the score. We demonstrate how a score changes using some examples of consumer profiles, representing different levels of experience and histories with credit products.