• Your credit score helps determine the interest rate you will get on a loan.top score 3 image by Pontus Edenberg from Fotolia.com
  
  In financial terms, your credit score is almost as important as your Social Security number. It determines whether you can get credit or a loan and the interest rates you will be charged, and, in some cases, even a job. While most people understand what their credit report does, the factors that affect your credit score can seem a little more mysterious.
  
  

Payment History

• Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your overall score. Paying your bills on time every month can mean a difference of as much as 50 points on your score. In addition, how long an account is past due also contributes to this percentage.
  
  

Outstanding Debts

• The amount of debt you already have outstanding can affect up to 30 percent of your credit score. Having delinquent accounts, judgments, liens, bankruptcy or other adverse public records will negatively affect your credit score. The amount past due and the number of items on file can also have a negative impact. However, accounts paid as agreed positively affect your score.
  
  

Types of Accounts

• Having different types of credit accounts is more beneficial to your overall credit score than having a lot of accounts in one area like credit cards, for example. The types of credit you have can contribute up to 10 percent of your overall score, according to Craig Watts, spokesman for FICO (Fair Isaac Company), the company that calculates and issues the credit score that most lenders use.
  
  

Length of Credit History

• The length of time an account is open as well as the amount of activity on any given account contributes to about 15 percent of your overall credit score.
  
  

New Credit

• The number of times you have had your credit report looked at in recent months, in addition to new accounts you have opened and the types of those accounts, contributes to about 10 percent of your score.