April is Financial Literacy Month! All month long, we’ll be sharing helpful financial tips and insights. Today we'll be talking about credit scores.

A credit score is a numerical value that represents your creditworthiness, indicating how likely you are to repay borrowed money. Credit unions, banks, credit card companies, and loan providers will use your credit score to evaluate the risk of lending you money.

Credit scores range from 300-850. The higher your score, the more likely you are to be approved for credit cards, loans, etc... Your credit score is made up of 35% payment history, 30% credit utilization, 15% length of credit history, 10% types of credit, and 10% recent credit inquiries.

To build a strong credit score, be sure to pay your bills on time, keep older accounts open, maintain a diverse mix of credit types, and avoid opening multiple new accounts in a short period of time.