BY NATHAN SPIECKER for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 9/11/2026
Maria and James were both shopping for a car. They had similar incomes, similar expenses, and something else in common: neither had missed a credit payment in years. When they compared loan offers, however, they noticed something they hadn’t expected. Their credit scores were different. That raised a reasonable question: If two people can manage credit responsibly, why don’t they get the same score?
The answer starts with something we discussed last week. A credit score can only be calculated when there is enough information in a credit report to generate one. Once that information is available, a scoring model looks at the credit history and turns it into a number.
Think of it somewhat like a weighted grade point average. A GPA combines many grades, but some assignments count more than others. A credit score similarly combines information from our credit history, with different parts of that history carrying different levels of importance. The result isn’t a judgment about whether Maria or James is responsible with money. It is a calculation based on the information available to the scoring model.
What information matters?
Credit scoring models look at several parts of our credit history. Two of the most important are payment history and credit utilization and depth.
Payment history is straightforward: Have we paid our credit accounts as agreed? In both FICO and VantageScore systems, payment history is the most important factor. A record of paying on time gives a scoring model a history of how we’ve handled credit. Late payments can affect a score, although the impact depends on circumstances such as how recent, severe, and frequent the late payments are.
The second major consideration is how we use the credit available to us and how much information there is about our experience with credit. Credit utilization generally refers to the amount we owe on revolving accounts, such as credit cards, compared with our available credit. If a card has a $1,000 limit and a $200 balance, for example, the utilization rate is 20%. A $900 balance would be 90%.
In general, a lower utilization rate is viewed more favorably than a high one. This doesn’t mean that carrying a balance from one month to the next is necessary to build credit. It isn’t. Paying a credit card balance in full each month can be perfectly consistent with building and maintaining a good credit history.
Credit depth and length of history also matter. A person who has managed several credit accounts responsibly for many years gives a scoring model more information to work with than someone who has only recently begun using credit.
Other information can matter as well, including applications for new credit and the types of credit accounts in our history. The exact importance of each factor depends on the scoring model being used. That last point is important because there isn’t one universal credit score.
Why can the numbers be different?
We might see one credit score through a credit card company, another through a financial app and a different score when applying for a loan. That doesn’t necessarily mean something is wrong.
FICO and VantageScore are different scoring systems, and each has multiple versions. Lenders may use different models or versions for different types of credit. The information available to a scoring model can also differ depending on which credit reporting company supplied the information and when it was updated. So, Maria might see a somewhat different number from James, and she might even see slightly different numbers herself.
This is one reason it can be frustrating to treat a credit score like a school grade. A score of 742 isn’t automatically “better” in every situation than a score of 738 in a way that makes a meaningful difference to our financial lives. The significance of a particular score depends on the lender, the scoring model, and the terms being offered.
More importantly, a credit score doesn’t tell a lender everything about us. Depending on the type of credit, lenders may also consider income, existing debts, employment, and other information when deciding whether to approve an application and what terms to offer. The score is just one piece of the picture, and that is probably the most useful way to think about it.
A credit score is a summary of patterns in our credit history. It isn’t a number we need to constantly optimize. A healthy credit profile (paying on time, keeping credit use manageable, and making thoughtful decisions about new credit) is more important than chasing a particular score.
This week’s action
Rather than checking for a particular number of points, let’s take a look at one of our credit accounts and ask two questions: Firstly, are payments being made on time? Even if we aren’t able to pay the balance off completely, paying at least the minimum still counts as an on-time payment. Next, let’s ask ourselves whether the amount of available credit being used is manageable? Let’s remember that the higher a balance we carry, the more we end up paying in interest.
If either answer raises concerns, let’s choose one small step to address it. That might mean setting a payment reminder, enrolling in automatic payments, or reviewing spending on a credit card. Small decisions accumulate over time. That’s true of the information that appears in our credit history, and it is also true of the habits that shape our financial lives.
Next week, we’ll look at what happens when that information changes. Why can a credit score go up or down even when we haven’t done anything obviously wrong? In the meantime, learn more about credit scores and reports from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/credit-reports-and-scores/
This column is produced by the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Washington’s financial services regulator, to provide consumer education and protection. Learn more or file a complaint at www.dfi.wa.gov
