Is Older Credit Better?

One of the biggest determining factors in your credit score is your credit age or credit history.

What is Credit Age?

Credit age is just like how it sounds. It refers to how long you’ve had credit accounts open. Credit age makes up about 21 percent* of your credit score, so it’s important to know all about it.

Here’s a breakdown of credit age:

The Beginning of Credit Age

The age of your credit report goes back to the oldest reported item on the report. Each credit account that gets opened has a “date opened” next to it, referring to the month and date it was opened. The credit scoring models use this info to determine the age of your accounts. This means the date of your oldest account is the age of your credit report. Only accounts that are currently open are calculated into your credit score. The average age of your accounts is also considered in your overall credit age. It’s simply the average age of each current account. 

Why Credit Age Matters

The older your credit history, the better. Lenders want to see that you can manage debt effectively over time. The longer you’ve shown you can pay off credit responsibly, the more creditworthy you are to lenders. 

Keep Accounts Open

The best way to keep your credit age up is to keep accounts open, even paid-off accounts. You can just make small payments on them to keep them open to keep your age intact. If you close an account, it will age off your report and may affect your credit age, which can impact your overall credit score.

Do One Thing: Regularly check your credit report to keep your score as high as possible.

*based on VantageScore 3.0