Credit Scores

Average age of accounts describes the overall maturity of the borrower's reported accounts when considered together.

Credit mix describes the variety of credit account types that appear on a borrower's file.

A credit score is a numerical summary of how a borrower's credit file looks from a lending-risk perspective.

Canadian credit-score concepts that explain how score summaries relate to the underlying credit file.

Credit utilization is the share of available revolving credit that is currently being used.

A late payment is a required payment that was not made by the due date.

Length of credit history describes how long the borrower's reported accounts and file history have existed.

A near-prime borrower sits between prime and subprime in overall lending risk.

New credit describes recent account openings and other fresh borrowing activity that can make a file look less settled.

An on-time payment is a required payment made by the due date under the credit agreement.

Payment history is the record of whether credit obligations were paid on time, late, or not as agreed.

A prime borrower is generally viewed as a lower-risk borrower in a lending decision.

Rent reporting means eligible rental-payment information is sent to a credit-reporting system and may affect the borrower's file.

Risk tier means a lender's broad bucket for how risky a borrower or file appears.

A score range is a banded way of interpreting a credit score rather than reading the number in isolation.

A subprime borrower is generally viewed as a higher-risk borrower in a lending decision.

A thin credit file is a file with limited reported credit information or too little depth for easy risk assessment.