Credit history

Credit history is a record of a person’s or company’s past borrowing and repayment, held by credit bureaus. A credit report can show accounts with their limits and balances, payment status month by month, and searches made by lenders. How long negative items remain depends on the country and bureau.

Example

When applying for a mortgage, lenders review the applicant’s credit history to assess their creditworthiness. This history includes past loans, credit card use, payment timing, and any bankruptcies or late payments. A strong credit history, marked by consistent on-time payments and responsible borrowing, can improve the chances of getting a loan with better terms and interest rates.

What a credit history contains

Accounts are listed with their limits and balances. The report can show payment status month by month, including missed payments and defaults.

It may also show accounts sent to collections. In many countries, public records can include court judgments or insolvencies, and the report lists searches lenders made when someone applied for credit.

How lenders read a credit history

A month-by-month record lets a lender see whether missed payments are recent or older. The length of the record shows how much past borrowing information is available. For illustration, a balance of 300 on a limit of 1,000 is 30% of that limit in use.

Recent lender searches can show that applications were made. A thin file or no history says little either way, so some lenders use alternative data such as bank transactions.

Questions we get asked