i think sahayog is right ...my quarterly credit report does states, "High usage (such as balances above 50% of the credit limit) is usually considered negative because lenders worry that you may be using more credit than you can reasonably afford to repay."
but it also mentions in the same line, "In fact, as little as 15% usage may lower your score if you have no serious negatives (such as late payments) in your report. "
Below is my this quarter's credit report for anyone who is interested on what factors affects the credit score.
Summary
Thanks to your high credit score, you are likely to get good offers from lenders, whether for an auto loan, mortgage, or personal loan. However, this may not be true for credit card offers because credit cards usually require very high scores to qualify for the lowest interest rates and highest credit limits. Note that the additional information you provide as part of your credit application, such as income and monthly payments, will be important in determining whether you get the best offers available.
Explanation
There are both positive and negative factors that influence your credit score. The most important factors of each kind are listed below, in their order of importance. Remember, these factors vary in how strongly they impact your credit score. For example, if you have a very high credit score, the negative factors in your analysis are likely to have a small impact. The same is true for positive factors if you have a very low credit score.
Positive Factor
Here are the top factors that raise your score:
You have never been late with your payments, and no collection accounts or negative public records are listed on your credit report.
This raises your score. Any history of late payments (including missed payments and derogatory payment statuses) is a negative factor. No reported history of payments on any account is also negative because lenders cannot tell whether you paid on time or were late. Some cases of late payments are worse than others. If you have not been late with any payments recently, lenders may think you are responsible and do not (or will no longer) miss payments. Lenders realize that many people occasionally pay late. Therefore, being late with a single payment is typically not as harmful as being late with two or more consecutive payments. Similarly, being late on many accounts is typically worse than being late on one. Also, lenders may view late payments as a more serious problem if you have collection accounts or negative public records such as bankruptcies or court judgments. These types of credit records indicate a pattern of credit problems. Finally, it may not be as harmful to be late with your payments if the past due balances are small, because lenders stand to lose less money if they remain unpaid.
You have no installment loans listed in your credit report.
This raises your score. Having accounts listed in your credit reports is a positive factor because the payment history of these accounts shows lenders how well you pay your bills. Therefore, having too few accounts or too few open accounts may be considered negative. However, having too many accounts or adding new accounts too quickly may also be considered negative because lenders worry that you are spending (or preparing to spend) beyond your means, even if you have never been late with any payments. Note that closing accounts will not change this. Also, if you do not currently have credit, getting your first few credit cards may be difficult and may involve high fees, high interest rates, and low credit limits. Note that accounts from personal finance companies (which specialize in lending to people with credit problems) may be considered negative.
You currently owe $346 on your revolving account(s). This only includes accounts updated in the past 6 months.
This raises your score. High balances are a negative factor because lenders worry that you are living beyond your means and may not be able to repay them. This is particularly true for credit cards. For installment loans such as mortgages and auto loans, lenders often use the proportion of the loan that is still unpaid to judge your ability to take on new debt. If very little of your installment loan balances have been repaid, lenders may not give you more credit that could add to your debt. In general, lenders evaluate how much you owe (your debt) in relation to how much you earn (your income). However, no matter how high your income, having a lot of debt may lower your credit scores because lenders know that adverse changes in your employment and life events such as divorce or illness may make it hard to pay your bills. Low balances, on the other hand, are a positive factor because lenders do not stand to lose as much if you become unable to repay them. However, not using your credit accounts may be considered a negative factor, because it does not provide lenders with information about how you typically use credit and repay your debts.
Negative Factors
Here are the top factors that lower your score:
You opened your first credit account 6 months ago. This does not include disputed accounts and accounts for which the date opened is not reported. Also, this may not include accounts closed more than 7 years ago.
This lowers your score. Having had credit accounts for a long time is a positive factor because your credit history allows lenders to evaluate how you typically use credit and repay your debts. However, accounts that have been open for a long time may have a short payment history, either because you have not used the account recently, or because the lender has not reported the payment history to the credit bureau. Having a short payment history is a negative factor, even for accounts that have been open for a long time. This is because it does not provide lenders with the information they need to determine how you repay your debts. Accounts that were opened 40 or more years ago and have 2 or more years of reported payment history are considered best. On the other hand, if your oldest account was opened up to 7 years ago, your credit history may be considered short, and less than 3 years ago is often considered too little. It is worth noting that because lenders can be slow to report new accounts to the credit bureaus, you may have accounts not yet recorded on your credit report that may be younger or older than your listed accounts.
On average, you are using 48% of the credit limit on your open bankcard(s). This only includes accounts for which the credit limit or highest balance is reported. This is because if the credit limit is not reported, your highest balance is used instead.
This lowers your score. High usage (such as balances above 50% of the credit limit) is usually considered negative because lenders worry that you may be using more credit than you can reasonably afford to repay. In fact, as little as 15% usage may lower your score if you have no serious negatives (such as late payments) in your report. Being "maxed out" or overlimit on a credit card (when your balance is close to or above the credit limit) is particularly bad for your credit scores. The more accounts in this situation, the more it affects your scores. On the other hand, low usage is usually considered positive because it provides lenders with information on how you use credit. It also shows that you do not need to use all of the credit available to you. However, not using your credit accounts may be considered a negative factor, because it does not provide lenders with information about how you typically use credit and repay your debts.
You opened 100% of your revolving accounts in the past 12 months.
This lowers your score. Having accounts listed in your credit reports is a positive factor because the payment history of these accounts shows lenders how well you pay your bills. Therefore, having too few accounts or too few open accounts may be considered negative. However, having too many accounts or adding new accounts too quickly may also be considered negative because lenders worry that you are spending (or preparing to spend) beyond your means, even if you have never been late with any payments. Note that closing accounts will not change this. Also, if you do not currently have credit, getting your first few credit cards may be difficult and may involve high fees, high interest rates, and low credit limits. Note that accounts from personal finance companies (which specialize in lending to people with credit problems) may be considered negative.
You applied for credit 3 time(s) in the past 12 months, as recorded in this credit report. Mortgage and auto loan applications within the last 30 days do not count towards this total. All mortgage applications before that within a 14-day period count as a single application. This is also true of applications for auto loans.
This lowers your score. Applying for credit many times within a short period can lower your credit scores. When you apply for any type of credit (such as an auto loan, credit card, department store card, or mortgage), the lender considering your credit application checks your credit history. This is recorded in your credit reports as a "hard inquiry." Although inquiries are an unavoidable result of applying for credit, lenders dislike seeing many inquiries within a short period (such as 6 months). This is because they cannot tell whether you are "shopping" for the best offer or if you are desperately trying to get credit because of financial trouble. Therefore, try to limit your comparison to a small number of lenders when "shopping" for the best offer.
My Credit Score: 689
