HOW YOUR CARD SPENDING AFFECTS YOUR CREDIT SCORE

■ Be a reliable customer – make at least the minimum monthly payment on time Most recent payment missed -130 points Account defaulted and transferred to collections -350 points

■ Try to keep your balances low, if you can Balance below £50 +60 points Balance over £15,000 -50 points

■ Be trustworthy – being granted a generous credit limit by an existing provider underlines your creditworthiness to other lenders Having a credit card limit of £5000 or more +20 pts Having a credit card limit of £250 or less -40 pts

■ Try to use your cards sparingly, so as not to appear over-reliant on credit Card balance below 30 per cent of your credit limit +90 pts Card balance over 90 per cent of your credit limit -50 pts

■ Try to not look like you’re in persistent credit card debt and can only afford to meet the bare minimum monthly payments This has no direct score impact but making just the minimum monthly payment is marked on your credit report with a warning flag and can worry a new lender, unless the account is also marked as on a promotion (ie a 0% introductory deal).

■ Shop around but try to let some credit mature – lenders value stability and loyalty

Having a credit card for 5+ years +20 points

Having a new card account opened in the last six months -40 points For example, according to Experian, a five-year-old credit card with a high limit, low balance and perfect payment record can boost your credit score by about 200 points, which on its own could supercharge your score from Fair to Excellent on the Experian Credit Score scale.