What is an excellent credit score?

To get a credit card with great perks or the lowest possible interest rate on a loan, you need to have excellent credit. An excellent or exceptional credit score, means your credit score is in the 800 to 850 range. It signals to lenders and creditors that you're responsible with credit. 

What are the credit score ranges? 

Two of the most widely used credit scores are the FICO® Score and VantageScore®. While the tiers and breakdown are different, the scoring range for consumer credit scores for both these credit scoring models is 300 to 850.

If you're going by the FICO® Score, an excellent credit score falls within 800 to 850, while the VantageScore is between 781 to 850.

Let's break this down even further:

VantageScore

• Very Poor: 300 to 499
• Poor: 500 to 600
• Fair: 601 to 660
• Good: 661 to 780
• Excellent: 781 to 850 

FICO Score 

• Poor: 300 to 579 
• Fair: 580 to 669 
• Good: 670 to 739 
• Very Good: 740 to 799 
• Excellent: 800 to 850 

What makes up your credit score?

Different factors make up your credit score. Here's how credit scores are calculated:

VantageScore 

• Payment History: 41% 
• Depth of Credit: 20% 
• Credit Utilization: 20%
• Recent Credit: 11% 
• Balances: 6% 
• Available Credit: 2% 

FICO Score 

• Payment History: 35%
• Amounts Owed: 30% 
• Length of Credit History: 15% 
• New Credit: 10% 
• Credit Mix: 10% 

How to get an excellent credit score

Here's how you can practice sound financial behaviors to have an exceptional credit score:

Payment history

Stay on top of your credit card and loan payments. You always want to make your payments on-time and in full. If you can’t, at least make sure you’re paying the minimums.

Amounts owed or credit utilization

This is the total amount of how much credit you're using against the balances on all your cards, and is expressed as a percentage.  You want to keep this number relatively low.

Length of credit or depth of credit

Keeping your accounts open and in good standing for as long as possible will help keep your credit in tip-top shape. 

New credit

This is how frequently you apply for new credit. You'll want to only apply for credit as needed. If you're applying for a mortgage, loan, or new utility provider, there's a window of time where all the new credit inquiries count as one inquiry. This window of time varies and can be anywhere from 14 to 45 days. 

Credit mix

Having a good, diverse mix of credit lines, such as different types of loans and credit cards, can take on new lines of credit. In turn, it shows lenders that you can handle credit responsibly. 

What are the benefits of having excellent credit

Having an excellent credit score shows financial institutions that you're financially responsible. It signals to lenders that you're less risky to loan money to, than, say, someone with a poor or fair credit score. 

In turn, an excellent credit means you'll have an easier time getting approved for credit cards, loans, and other forms of financing. Plus, you'll more likely get more favorable rates, terms, and also products with more attractive perks and rewards.

How to Improve Your Credit Score to Excellent 

To bolster your credit score so it's excellent, do the following: 

Make on-time payments

As we talked about, your credit payment history makes up 35% of your score. Make it a top priority to stay on top of your payments. If you're struggling to be on-time, reach out to your credit card issuer to see if you can potentially change your payment due date or lower your interest rate.  

Don't get close to maxing out on your credit limit

Generally, it's recommended to keep your credit usage (i.e., how much revolving credit you have against the total debt on all your cards), at no more than 30%. For example, if your balance across three cards is $1,500, and your total credit limit on all your cards is $10,000, then your credit usage is 15%. 

As lenders look at how much credit you're as a measure of how you're managing your credit, and credit utilization makes up 30% of your credit score, the lower your credit card balance, the better. 

Keep your accounts open

A long history of keeping your accounts current and paying on-time will help improve your credit score. 

Reverse-engineer your credit score woes

If you're working on rebuilding credit, take a good look at what financial habits and behaviors negatively impacted your credit score. Then do the opposite to get your credit score to excellent. For instance, if the main reason why your credit score took a dip is because you were late on your personal loan payments, then to improve your credit, work hard at being on time. 

Check your credit report for errors

Missing or inaccurate information can sometimes cause your credit report to decrease. You can order a free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com. 

How to check your credit for free

You can check your credit at no cost through one of the following methods.

Credit card companies

Some credit card companies such as Discover Card, Barclaycard, and Capital One offer you the opportunity to check your credit card for free. 

The credit scoring model might differ. For instance, Discover offers you the TransUnion® FICO® Credit score, Barclaycard offers a free FICO Score, and Capital One gives you the TransUnion VantageScore® 3.0. This score is typically updated every month. 

Credit monitoring services

Free credit monitoring services, such as Credit Karma and Credit Sesame, offer free credit scores and credit reports. Credit Karma provides credit scores from Equifax and TransUnion, and the scores are updated once a week. Credit Sesame offers TransUnion's VantageScore 3.0. 

WalletHub

Personal finance websites such as WalletHub also feature free credit scores, credit reports, and credit monitoring. WalletHub's credit score is from TransUnion's VantageScore 3.0. 

Excellent credit can feel like a gateway to your power as a consumer. By maintaining strong financial habits and behaviors, you'll be able to have excellent credit.