Good credit verses bad credit, high scores verses low scores. It sounds like a conversation you’d overhear at a local arcade. Today, however, we’re not talking about Tetris or Temple Run.

Quite the contrary, today’s topic isn’t a game at all. It’s your credit report. Your credit score is, in short, the overall analysis of your history and reputation as a borrower that’s presented to potential lenders. It indicates how likely you are to repay any loans you take out. The quicker and more reliable your reputation is when it comes to repaying loans, the more likely a lender will issue you a loan in the first place, and at a better price to boot.

So what exactly makes for “good” or “bad” credit? How does your credit report and, more specifically, your credit score – represented as a single, three-digit number – affect you?

We will explain that and more as it is critical for you, as a consumer credit user, knows what your credit is, how to fix your credit, how to utilize credit repair services, and how to practice sound identity theft protection.

Yet, before you can fully understand the effects of your credit has on you, it is important to first understand the basics of credit scoring.

What is a Credit Score?

As mentioned above, a credit score is a single, computer-generated number used by financial institutions and potential lenders to quickly assess your qualifications as a borrow. It is obtained by a thorough analysis of your credit history and reports. There are multiple types of credit scores, but the most commonly used one is the FICO score.

What is the Standard Credit Range?

The typical FICO credit rating scale begins at 350 and ends at 850. Within that range lies your personal score and is broken down into four tiers: excellent, good, fair, or poor.

What is Good Credit? What is Bad Credit?

Assessing your score is simple: the higher the number, the better the score. Excellent credit is typically any score above 800 and almost guarantees any loan approval at the best available rates. A good credit score falls between 700 and 800.

From 650 to 700 indicates a fair score, while 600 to 650 indicates a poor or “subprime” score. Any credit rating below 600 is considered very bad. If you fall into this category, it’s nearly impossible to get a competitive, quality loan even with substantial collateral.

Thankfully, your credit rating isn’t permanent. There are numerous actions you can take to improve your credit, whether it’s 350 or 850. For more information, contact your local credit bureau or qualified lending agency.