How to Age Your Credit Report and Improve Your Score

A credit report details an individual’s financial behavior. “Account age,” or credit history length, represents how long credit accounts have been established. This longevity contributes to your financial health and creditworthiness. The age of your credit accounts provides lenders insights into your experience managing financial obligations over time, painting a picture of your reliability as a borrower.

How Account Age Influences Your Score

The length of your credit history plays a role in determining your credit score. Both the age of your oldest active account and the average age of all your accounts contribute to this factor. Lenders view a longer history of well-maintained accounts favorably, as it indicates stability and responsible financial behavior.

Credit scoring models consider the age of your oldest account, newest account, and the average age of all your credit accounts. A credit account open for many years, especially with consistent on-time payments, suggests a lower risk to lenders. This demonstrates a sustained ability to handle financial commitments. A longer credit history generally contributes positively to your credit scores.

While account age is an important component, other factors, such as payment history and credit utilization, often carry greater weight in credit scoring calculations. Payment history, for example, has a more substantial impact. Therefore, maintaining older accounts in good standing, consistent on-time payments, and low credit utilization, presents a comprehensive approach to building a strong credit profile.

Locating Account Age on Your Credit Report

To understand your credit history length, access your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. AnnualCreditReport.com provides one free report from each bureau every 12 months. You will be guided through a verification process to confirm your identity before accessing your reports.

Once you have your credit reports, locate the “date opened” or “account opening date” for each tradeline. This information is provided for all types of accounts, including credit cards, installment loans, and mortgages. By reviewing these dates, you can identify your oldest active account, which is the starting point for calculating your credit history length.

To determine the average age of your open accounts, sum the years each active account has been open and divide that total by the number of open accounts. For example, if you have three open accounts aged 15, 5, and 4 years, their combined age is 24 years, making the average age 8 years (24 divided by 3). This calculation provides a clear picture of your overall credit age.

Steps to Improve Account Age

To positively influence your credit report, keep old, established credit accounts open, even if not frequently used. Closing an older account in good standing can decrease your average account age and affect your credit score, as positive history might be removed. To keep an old account active without new debt, consider setting up a small recurring charge, like a streaming service bill, and paying it off automatically each month.

When considering new credit, be mindful of how frequently you apply. Each new credit application results in a “hard inquiry” on your credit report, which can temporarily lower your score. Opening too many new accounts in a short period can also reduce the average age of your overall credit history, which is a higher risk to lenders. Spacing out new credit applications, perhaps waiting at least six months between them, allows your credit score to stabilize.

Becoming an authorized user on an established, well-managed credit account can benefit your credit age, particularly if the account is older than your existing credit lines. When added as an authorized user, the account’s positive payment history and age can appear on your credit report, which can lengthen your overall credit history. However, the impact varies, so ensure the primary account holder maintains responsible payment habits to avoid negative consequences.

For individuals with a limited credit history, secured credit cards or credit-builder loans are initial steps to establish account age. Secured credit cards require a cash deposit that acts as your credit limit, helping you build a positive payment history. Credit-builder loans hold the loan amount while you make payments, reporting on-time payments to credit bureaus. These tools create new, positive credit entries, contributing to a longer credit history.