My FICO logo $$$$$$$$$$$ 9876 5432 1234 5678 CREDIT CARD KELLY SMITH 11/26 My FICO logo
SCORE
Skip Navigation
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Start Plan
 
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing
  •  
  • Education
    • Credit Education
    • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Scores Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit and Financial Counseling
    • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
    • Blog
    • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
    • Know Your Rights
    • Identity Theft
    • FAQ
    • Glossary
  • Community
  • Support
  • Member Dashboard
  • Log In Log Out
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • How Can We Help
    • Monitor Credit & Identity
    • Mortgages
    • Credit Cards
    • Auto Loans
  • Credit Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Our Products
    • Ongoing Credit Monitoring Track your FICO® Score & identity
    • One-time Credit Reports Be prepared for important transactions
  • Credit Education
  • Credit Scores
    • What Is a FICO Score?
    • FICO Scores vs Credit Scores
    • FICO Score Versions
    • New FICO Scores
    • How Scores Are Calculated
    • Payment History
    • Amount of Debt
    • Length of Credit History
    • Credit Mix
    • New Credit
    • How to Improve Your Score
    • How to Build Credit
    • Credit and Financial Counseling
  • Credit Reports
    • What's in Your Report
    • Credit Bureaus
    • Inquiries
    • Errors on Your Report?
  • Blog
  • Calculators
    • Loan Savings
    • Vehicle Payments
    • How Much Can I Borrow?
    • Should I Consolidate My Credit Cards?
  • Know Your Rights
  • Identity Theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Estimate your FICO® Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO® Score range

Estimate for Free

Get your FICO® Score for free

90% of top lenders use FICO® Scores

Get Access Now
No credit card required
credit scores

What Does Credit Mix Mean?

The types of credit you have are known as your credit mix. They can include a mix of accounts from credit cards, retail accounts, installment loans, finance company and mortgage loans.

Credit mix determines 10% of a FICO® Score

So, what does it mean to you and your FICO Score? Creditors assess the risk of lending money through a variety of factors, one of them being your ability to successfully manage different types of credit. FICO not only looks at the mix of credit you have but also at the payment history of these credit types. For instance, if you have a great mix of installment and revolving loans, yet your payment history is bad, your FICO Score will reflect that negative payment history, which represents 35% of your FICO Score.

For creditors, it stands to reason that the better you manage different loans and lines of credit, the lower their risk when lending you money.

Again, since credit mix is only 10% of your FICO Score, it most likely won't determine whether or not you obtain credit from lenders. However, if you're striving to bring your FICO Score to the highest level it can be, your credit mix can play a part.

Figuring out your credit mix

Okay, so a good credit mix can help your credit score. Does that mean you should start applying for all the types of credit lines you don't currently have? No.

First and foremost, two things happen when you apply for multiple new credit lines within a short period of time:

  1. Creditors check your credit (a "hard inquiry") which typically lowers your credit score and remains on your credit report for two years. (Note: FICO Scores only consider inquiries made during the 12 months prior to the time the Score is calculated.)
  2. If a creditor sees you've opened an inordinate amount of new accounts within a small time frame, it could indicate to them that you're experiencing financial distress, whether true or not. The result? A likely denial of the loan.

Therefore, if you want to add something to your credit mix that's currently missing, balance the risk versus the reward. Is it worth a drop in your score to apply for a small loan to show creditors you can manage payments successfully? With credit mix being such a small percentage of your credit score, the answer is, "probably not." However, in the end, the final decision is yours.

Types of credit accounts

Do you have experience with both revolving credit and installment type accounts, or has your credit experience been limited to only one type?

Revolving accounts

Revolving accounts are those that provide you with credit that allows more flexibility regarding the amount paid monthly (subject to any minimum payments required, and payment due dates, etc.). Some of these include:

  • Credit Cards
  • Retail Store Cards
  • Gas Station Cards
  • HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit)

Installment accounts

These types of accounts usually require a fixed payment each month until the balance is paid down in full. A few examples of these are:

  • Mortgage
  • Auto Loan
  • Student Loan

Now that you know more about credit mix, check out the last FICO Score factor, new credit. See how new credit will affect your score.

Related Questions

  • What's the best way to manage my growing credit card debt?
  • How do I go about building my credit history?
  • Will applying for multiple credit accounts hurt my score more than single application?
  • What are inquiries and how do they affect my score?

Popular Forum Threads

  • Understanding FICO® Scoring
  • Your guide to credit scoring
  • A summary of FICO® editions, versions and variations
  • The history of credit

Estimate your FICO® Score range

Answer 10 easy questions to get a free estimate of your FICO® Score range

Estimate for Free

Get your FICO® Score for free

90% of top lenders use FICO® Scores

Get Access Now
No credit card required

Page footer

Products

  • Home
  • Why FICO
  • How It Works
  • Pricing

Learn

  • Education
  • Community
  • Support
  • Blog

Company

  • About Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences
  • Privacy Policy
  • Affiliate Program
  • Accessibility

Get Our App

  • Download iOS app on the App Store
  • fil_get
    Get Android app on the Google Play Store

Follow Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Credit Education

  • Credit scores
  • What is a FICO Score?
  • FICO Score versions
  • How scores are calculated
  • Payment history
  • Amount of debt
  • Length of credit history
  • Credit mix
  • New credit
  • Credit reports
  • What's in your report
  • Bureaus
  • Inquiries
  • Errors on your report?
  • Calculators
  • Know your rights
  • Identity theft
  • FAQ
  • Glossary

Copyright ©2001-2025 Fair Isaac Corporation. All rights reserved.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

All FICO® Score products made available on myFICO.com include a FICO® Score 8, and may include additional FICO® Score versions. Your lender or insurer may use a different FICO® Score than the versions you receive from myFICO, or another type of credit score altogether. Learn more

FICO, myFICO, Score Watch, The score lenders use, and The Score That Matters are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fair Isaac Corporation. Equifax Credit Report is a trademark of Equifax, Inc. and its affiliated companies. Many factors affect your FICO Scores and the interest rates you may receive. Fair Isaac is not a credit repair organization as defined under federal or state law, including the Credit Repair Organizations Act. Fair Isaac does not provide "credit repair" services or advice or assistance regarding "rebuilding" or "improving" your credit record, credit history or credit rating. FTC's website on credit.