What credit score does everybody start out with, or do you even have a score until you get a card?

I don't know my credit score, I am just now getting a checking account, and I have only used cash prior, so what score does everybody start out at?

Public Comments

1. read article below.
2. As a loan officer, I can tell you that you start out with no score. You can get a score by obtaining and using credit. There is a myth that people with the highest debt have the highest score. This is NOT true. The people who I have seen with scores above 800, have high credit limits available to them, but pay off their balances every month. THEY CARRY NO DEBT!!!!
3. Great question. There is no starting point score. Your first score is determined once you have enough credit tradelines [or numbers of different credit sources] to score your file. You can check now, but you may not have a score yet. You need to get a credit card to establish credit. One of the score factors is history of credit, and as you will be new your score may be lower. People with 20 years of credit history tend to have higher scores [as long as they have paid on time and kept balances low].
4. If you NEVER had any credit lines before (car loans, credit cards, overdraft) you have what is called a "thin file". This means you would not have any score. You only get a score when you start managing your credit lines. Not to worry! Having no score is BETTER than having a bad (low) score. You may only get a low line of credit to start off with - but at least you would NOT normally be denied credit - like someone who has a very low score. Start off slow - get one card (store card or low line credit card) and manage it well - pay on time and don't exceed 60% of your available credit - to demonstrate that you do NOT have excessive credit needs.
5. From Fair Isaac, the FICO score company: "In order for a FICO® score to be calculated on your credit report, the report must contain enough information—and enough recent information—on which to base a score. Generally, that means you must have at least one account that has been open for six months or longer, and at least one account that has been reported to the credit reporting agency within the last six months." So, if you have no history reported to the consumer reporting agencies, you don't have a low score or a high score, you have no score. And, checking accounts don't count.