15% – Length of Credit History (How long have you been in the credit game?)

The credit scoring system wants to know how long you have been in the credit game. The longer the better. An average of all your open credit accounts makes up your average length of credit history. Remember, this only factors in your OPEN accounts. Be careful not to close an old credit account that you have had open for a long time. Once it is closed, you will reduce your average length of credit history and potentially lower your score.