Length of time revolving accounts have been established

FICO code numbers

Code numbers can differ by bureau and score version. The wording of the statement is what to match.

What puts this reason on your score

This code looks only at cards and other revolving accounts. A file with a car loan from years ago but cards opened in the last two years can see it. FICO says length of history covers how long specific accounts have been open, along with the age of your oldest, newest and average accounts.

Each new card pulls down the average age of your revolving accounts. That's why this code tends to climb the list after a run of new card approvals, even on files with a long history elsewhere.

What to check on your credit report

• Find the open date of your oldest card on each report.
• Check whether an old card you've had for years is missing from one bureau.
• Count the cards opened in the last two years.

What you can do about it

• Keep your oldest cards open, and use them now and then so the issuer doesn't close them for inactivity.
• Hold off on new cards. Each one lowers the average age.
• Ask about being added as an authorized user on a family member's long-held card, if that issuer reports authorized users and the card has a clean record.

How soon a change can show

Only time moves this one. Every month adds a month to each card's age, and there's no shortcut.

If you are applying for a mortgage

Don't open a new card in the year before you apply to work on this code. A new card does the opposite of what it needs.

Guides that go deeper

• How to keep an unused credit card from being closedIssuers can close an unused card with no warning, and the lost limit pushes utilization up. Cheap, low-effort ways to keep a sock-drawer card active.
• Becoming an authorized user to build creditBeing added to someone else's card can put years of history on your report. How FICO treats it, which card to pick, and the math on their balance.
• What closing a credit card does to your scoreClosing a card cuts your available credit right away but doesn't erase its history for years. See the utilization math and when closing is still the right call.
• What your credit score reason codes are telling youReason codes list what held your score back the most, in order. What the common ones mean, which you can act on, and which to leave alone.