What Can You Do With a 700 Credit Score?
A 700 credit score is considered “good,” and makes it easier to get approved for loans and credit. Find out what you can do with a 700 score inside.
October 28, 2022
Your creditworthiness is measured by your credit score. Credit scores are numerical ratings between 300 and 850, with 850 being the highest possible score.
Your credit score can determine how easy it is to get approved for a loan, the interest rates lenders are willing to offer you and even your ability to secure a lease. Credit can impact most areas of personal finance, so it’s very important to have a good credit score.
But what is a good credit score, exactly? A 700 credit score is generally considered “good,” and can make it easier to access many types of financing. Here’s everything you need to know about a 700 credit score.
What does a 700 credit score mean?
A 700 credit score indicates "good" credit. The FICO® scoring model considers scores between 670 and 739 to be “good,” 740-799 to be “very good,” and scores above 800 to be “excellent.”
Your credit score indicates how responsible you have been with credit in the past. Credit scores are calculated based on your credit history — how you’ve borrowed and repaid money in the past, if you’ve had any late payments or collections and other factors such as your current debt level.
A 700 credit score is considered good and will make it easier to be approved for credit. It’s also pretty close to the average credit score, which was 716 as of August 2022.
Wondering how your score compares to your peers? Check out the average credit score by age, and the average credit score by state.
Benefits of a 700 credit score
From a practical perspective, having a 700+ credit score means that lenders will consider you to be a responsible borrower. They will be more likely to offer you loans and credit. Some of the potential benefits of having good credit include:
Easier approval: The higher your score, the easier it will be to get approved for loans and credit cards. You’ll have access to a wider range of financial products — and credit cards for someone with a 700 credit score often include the more attractive rewards credit cards. Keep in mind that lenders also consider your income level and other factors when deciding whether or not to approve you.
Lower interest rates: Having good credit also means that lenders will be more willing to offer you a lower interest rate. Borrowers with good credit are considered less risky, so lenders are willing to lend at lower interest rates.
Higher credit limits: Credit scores can also influence the amount of money that banks are willing to lend you. Higher scores lead to higher credit limits and maximum loan amounts. With that said, your income level also plays a major role in how much a bank will lend you.
Lower insurance rates: Insurance providers often access your credit report when you apply for insurance. They may consider your credit score when determining your rates — and a higher score will typically result in lower premiums on your insurance.
How to get a 700 credit score
It’s always a good idea to work on improving your credit. A bad credit score can make it much more difficult to navigate the financial world, while a good score makes many personal finance tasks easier — and cheaper.
To get a 700+ credit score, you must practice good credit habits. This includes:
Ensuring you make all your payments on time every month.
Checking your credit score regularly to monitor your progress.
Checking your credit report and fixing any errors that you notice.
Only applying for credit when it’s necessary, and minimizing the number of hard inquiries on your credit report.
Keeping your debt at an appropriate level. Ideally, your credit utilization should be below 30%. This means that you should use less than 30% of your available credit. If you have $10,000 in combined credit limits, you should try to carry a balance of no more than $3,000.
Paying off any bills that have gone to collections. Paying off accounts in collections can help to boost your credit score, while unpaid accounts can hurt your score.
The path to a 700 credit score will look different for everyone. It can take a long time to build credit if you’re just starting out, and even making gradual improvements can take some patience.
If you’re just starting out on your credit journey, check out our guide on how to build credit. A good place to start may be getting a secured credit card or a credit builder loan.
If you are working on improving your credit score, taking steps to reduce your debt levels can help. Tally† may be able to help. Tally is an app that helps qualifying Americans consolidate credit card balances into a lower interest line of credit. Learn how Tally works.
How to go beyond 700
The maximum credit score is 850, but it’s very difficult to achieve the perfect score. An 800+ credit score is often considered the ideal place to aim for.
Once you hit 700+, you can continue making progress by considering the credit scoring factors. These are the factors that contribute to your credit score. These factors include:
Payment history: 35%.
Amounts owed: 30%.
Length of credit history: 15%.
Credit mix: 10%.
New credit: 10%.
You can look at your own credit history to see which credit scoring factors that could use some improvement.
Perhaps you only have a short credit history — in which case you’ll simply need to be patient and wait for your score to improve.
Or maybe you only have student loans, and no other types of credit. In this case, opening a credit card may help boost your score.
Using a tool like Credit Karma or Credit Sesame can make it easier to make informed decisions about how to improve your credit based on your specific situation.
Bottom line
A 700 credit score is a good rating that will make it easier to get approved for credit. It’s close to the average credit score of 716.
Want to learn more about how to improve your credit? Explore the rest of the Tally blog to learn much more about credit, debt payoff and more.
†To get the benefits of a Tally line of credit, you must qualify for and accept a Tally line of credit. Based on your credit history, the APR (which is the same as your interest rate) will be between 7.90% - 29.99% per year. The APR will vary with the market based on the Prime Rate. Annual fees range from $0 - $300.