Understanding Your Payment History

Payment history shows how you've paid your accounts over the length of your credit. This evidence of repayment is the primary reason why payment history makes up 35% of your score and is a major factor in its calculation. Research shows that your track record of payment tends to be the strongest predictor of the likelihood that you'll pay all debts as agreed to. And as you can imagine, a lender's number one priority is your past record of paying back (or not) your loans.

Don't Miss Payments
Your payment history is one of the most important factors in determining your credit scores and having a long history of on-time payments can help you achieve excellent credit scores. To do this, you'll need to make sure you don't miss loan or credit card payments by more than 29 days. Payments that are at least 30 days late can be reported to the credit bureaus and hurt your credit scores.

Setting up automatic payments for the minimum amount due can help you avoid missing a  payment (as long as you're careful not to overdraft your bank account). If you're having trouble affording a bill, reach out to your credit card issuer right away to try and discuss hardship options.

Staying on top of accounts that don't generally appear on your credit reports (gym memberships and subscription services, for instance) can also be important. The on-time payments might not help your credit, but the account being sent to collections could still cause your scores to dip.
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Components that make up your payment history

• Payment information on credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, mortgages, and other types of accounts
• How many days is a payment delinquent or has been in the the past
• The amount of money still owed on a delinquent account or collection item
• The number of past due items on a credit report
• Adverse public records (e.g. bankruptcies)
• The amount of time that has passed since delinquencies, adverse public records, or collection items were introduced
• The number of accounts that are being paid as agreed