@Anonymous wrote:
No, I get my FICO score from my bank. I thought payment history was important, your telling me it's not? So, my score is good because my account is aging? It's only 11 months and I only have one credit card. I have not applied for any loans or other credit cards during this time. My score (with FICO anyway) had been steadily rising until it stopped. I thought it was because I was using my credit card and paying it in full each month. What is AAoA?
Are you open to mentioning which bank? Fellow score junkies might want to know.
Payment history is very important. I think it's 35% of your FICO score. A new 30 day late on a clean report, for example, can easily drop your FICO 50-70+. A new collection on a clean report can drop your FICO 100+. On the flip side, making on-time payments really doesn't help. Maybe it dilutes the bad, but the gains you are seeing after a late is added is its aging as opposed to on-time payments.
If your history is 11 months old, then you might see a bump at the 1-year mark. AAoA is the average age of all of your OC accounts, whether opened or closed, good or bad. FICO rounds that average down to the nearest whole number. In your case, AAoA is 0 because that sole card hasn't hit a year yet. I personally would anticipate an increase starting March 1 as it hits 12 months. Also, 11 months is new and there's some new account damage for that new account. As it ages to the one-year mark, you might see a slight bump.
You can also improve your score by improving your mix of credit. I don't know your score now, but given some years in added history as it ages, I don't see your FICO hitting above 750, give or take. If you add a second CC, I bet you'll see some double-digit gains.
