Your credit is an important part of your financial life—it works like a financial scorecard. Your credit score reflects how responsible you are with borrowing and repaying money, and lenders use it to decide whether to approve you for loans or credit.

Your credit information may also be reviewed by employers, landlords, and other organizations to assess how dependable you are financially. The good news is that your credit score is not fixed—you can take positive steps over time to improve it and build a stronger financial profile.