How does length of credit history affect credit scores?

Edited by:Liza Carrasquillo, Editor, Credit Cards
• Updated •5 min read
Young woman smiles as she checks her wristwatch in her home office, wondering how the age of her credit history impacts her credit scores,Image: Young woman smiles as she checks her wristwatch in her home office, wondering how the age of her credit history impacts her credit scores,

In a Nutshell

The length of your credit history helps lenders assess your experience managing debt. While it’s just one of several credit score factors, a longer history generally helps boost your scores.
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The length of your credit history, also known as your credit age, can show potential lenders how you manage credit over time. That’s why your credit scores may increase the longer you keep your loan and credit card accounts open and in good standing.

And keep in mind that while payment history and credit utilization are weighed the heaviest in your credit score factors, the length of your credit is also important. 

VantageScore 3.0 — which you can view for free on Credit Karma from TransUnion and Equifax — weighs the depth of your credit as 21% of your score. Depth of credit includes the age of your accounts and your mix of credit types.

We’ll review how the length of your credit history may affect your scores and what you can do to maintain a good length of credit history over time.

What is length of credit history?

Length of credit history refers to how long you’ve been using credit. It’s a measure of your experience with borrowing money and managing debt over time.

To analyze the length of your credit history, scoring models generally look at the:

  • Age of your oldest account: This is the time elapsed since you opened your first credit account that is still on your report.
  • Age of your newest account: This looks at how long it has been since you last opened a new account.
  • Average age of your accounts: This is calculated by averaging the age of all your open accounts.

You have many different credit scores, and different credit-scoring models weigh the length of your credit history differently in their calculations.

For instance, FICO® Score 8, a common FICO model, weighs credit history as 15% of your overall score.

Credit history length vs. credit age

While often used interchangeably, “length of credit history” and “average credit age” offer slightly different views of your file. Your length of history often refers to the total time you have actively used credit (based on your oldest account), while your “credit age” often refers to the average age of your accounts.

For example, let’s say these are two of your credit accounts:

  • Account A: Opened 10 years ago.
  • Account B: Opened two years ago.

In this example, your length of credit history stretches back 10 years, based on Account A. However, your average age of accounts is six years.

Opening new accounts lowers your average age, which can affect your scores.

What is a good length of credit history?

There is no specific number that guarantees a good credit score, but in general, a longer credit history is helpful because it demonstrates that you’ve been able to manage your finances over a period of time.

A borrower with a 10-year track record of on-time payments presents a clearer picture of risk to a lender than someone with only six months of history.

However, if you are new to credit, it is natural to have a short credit history. Everyone starts at the beginning. With a short history, you might not have the highest possible scores yet, but you can still be approved for credit.

VantageScore 3.0 can generate a score for people with limited credit history, provided they have at least one account open for at least one month. FICO scoring models, on the other hand, typically take at least six months of history to generate a score for an open account.

How to improve your credit history length

Building credit history takes time and patience, but there are still ways you can manage and potentially improve the length of your history.

Keep existing credit cards open

Closing old accounts can lower the average age of your accounts, which may negatively affect your scores. Even if you don’t use a card often, you should consider keeping it open to help maintain your credit age and credit utilization. 

If you have a card with an annual fee that you no longer want to pay, try calling your issuer and getting your card downgraded instead of canceling it. 

Become an authorized user 

If you don’t qualify for unsecured credit options, you can ask a trusted family member or friend with an established credit history to add you as an authorized user to a credit card account.

If the account has a strong payment history and low credit utilization, this positive history may be added to your credit reports. But remember that any missed payments on the account will affect credit history for both of you.

Apply for new credit

If you’re new to credit, you may need to open an account, such as a secured credit card, to start your clock. Applying for new credit creates hard inquiries, which can temporarily lower your credit scores. But the effects may be beneficial in the long run if you don’t have many accounts to begin with.

However, you should only apply for new accounts if they help with your current financial goals and needs.

What factors affect credit scores besides credit age?

Credit age is just one piece of the puzzle that factors into your credit score calculations. Here’s a breakdown of the VantageScore 3.0 model’s other main credit factors:

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  • Payment history (40%): This is the most important credit score factor. It measures whether you are consistently making on-time payments.
  • Credit utilization (20%): This considers how much of your available credit you’re currently using compared to your total available credit. Keeping your credit utilization ratio below 30% is generally recommended.
  • Balances (11%): This looks at the total amount of recently reported balances (current and delinquent) on your accounts.
  • Recent credit (5%): This factors in recently opened accounts and hard inquiries. Opening too many accounts in a short time can indicate higher risk.

Next steps: Monitor your credit history

The length of your credit history will take time to build up, so you likely won’t see the effects of it on your credit scores immediately. Your credit history, however, is another story. Missing just one payment can tarnish your credit history and cause your scores to go down.

To help maintain a positive credit history as the length of that history grows, you’ll have to monitor your scores and reports carefully. Make sure to dispute any errors you find on your credit reports.

Credit Karma provides free VantageScore 3.0 credit scores and reports from TransUnion and Equifax, which you can monitor for changes. Credit Karma will also notify you if your personal information has been leaked in a public data breach with credit monitoring.

FAQs about length of credit history

Lenders review your credit history to determine how likely you are to repay your loan on time. A longer history shows you have more experience using credit, which helps lenders be more accurate in determining the level of risk they take on when lending to you.

Six months of credit history isn’t long but is still enough time typically to generate credit scores. The VantageScore 3.0 model can provide a score with just one account open for at least one month. FICO scoring models typically require one account open and reporting to credit bureaus for at least six months to generate a score.

The length of your credit history refers to how long you have been using credit. This credit score factor typically considers the age of your oldest account, the age of your newest account and the average age of all your accounts.