Credit glossary
Amounts owed
FICO's name for the debt category of your score, about 30% of it for the general population, led by how much of your card limits you use.
FICO sorts credit data into five categories, and amounts owed is the second largest after payment history. It looks at more than total debt. Card utilization, the share of revolving limits your balances use, is the best-known piece, but FICO also considers how many accounts carry balances and how much remains on installment loans compared with what you originally borrowed. Owing money is normal. Using a large share of what's available signals strain.
This category moves faster than any other. Most score versions read only the latest reported balances, so a paydown can count as soon as your issuers send their next updates, usually around each statement closing date. That speed is also why balances matter so much in the weeks before a mortgage or auto application, when one high statement can pull a score down at the worst moment.
Guides that go deeper
- How a credit score is calculated, without the pie-chart mythsFICO's 35/30/15/10/10 split describes the general population, not point values. What each factor reads on your report, with the math worked out.
- Credit utilization, explained with the actual mathCredit utilization is card balances divided by card limits. See the math per card and overall, what counts, and why last month's ratio stops mattering.
Sources
- What's in my FICO Scores?, myFICO
- What is Amounts Owed?, myFICO
- How Amounts Owed Impacts Your Credit Score, myFICO
This is education, not legal or financial advice. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it.