The Definition of Credit and Why You Need It

What Is Credit and Why Is It Useful?

Credit is an agreement with a lender to borrow money and pay it back later. It can also mean a record of your borrowing history.

Written by

Edited by

Edited by other Updated Oct 16, 2025 Nerdy takeaways

What is credit?

There are a couple of definitions of credit: The ability to borrow money with the promise that you'll repay it in the future, often with interest. You might need credit to purchase a product or use a service that you can’t pay for immediately, like a car, laptop or home repair. The ability to borrow money with the promise that you'll repay it in the future, often with interest. Your financial history, which includes your record of borrowing and paying back money. The information is reported to the three major credit bureaus and appears on your credit reports alongside other information used to calculate your credit score. Your financial history, which includes your record of borrowing and paying back money.

What is credit used for?

You might need credit to purchase a product or use a service that you can't pay for immediately, like a car, home, furniture or cell phone. Student loans are a type of credit that you promise to pay back when you graduate.

Types of credit

There are many types of credit, but three are most popular: revolving, installment and service credit. revolving

Revolving credit

Revolving credit, typically issued in the form of a credit card, is where users are given a credit limit but can spend as much or as little up to that amount as they want. Balances are paid off in full or in part each month, and any remaining balance is carried over to the following month, usually with interest on the unpaid balance. credit limit

Installment credit

Installment credit, usually issued in the form of a loan, is credit that borrowers pay back in steady increments over time. Examples of installment credit include student loans, car loans and mortgages.

Service credit

Service credit is a type of credit that describes contracts you enter into with many service providers, like utility companies and membership services. These companies provide the service and you sign a contract to pay them after the fact. Your cell phone plan, electric bill and gym membership all fall into this category.

How do you get credit?

You must apply for credit. The amount you're authorized to use is determined by lending institutions (like banks or mortgage companies) based on your personal financial history. <br> For example, when you apply for a credit card, the lender takes your financial behavior and credit history into account before determining your credit limit. A higher limit suggests you are responsible enough, in the lender's eyes, to pay a large sum back, while smaller limits might be given to people who are either new to credit or rebuilding it. Your access to credit is determined by two main things: your credit report and credit scores.

Credit reports

Your credit reports contain a history of your financial behavior, as well as personal information like your employer and current and previous home addresses. Financial institutions can report your activity to some or all three of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Each bureau produces a credit report that you can access for free by using AnnualCreditReport.com. Monitoring your credit reports and looking for discrepancies is a good habit to create. If you find an error, you can dispute it with the credit bureau. If an investigation is ruled in your favor, the fixed error could have a positive impact on your credit score.

Credit scores

Your credit score is a three-digit number typically ranging from 300 to 850, the higher the better. It distills your credit history and other components of your credit report into a shorthand used by financial institutions to determine your creditworthiness. Your credit score is not found on your credit reports. FICO and VantageScore are the two major companies that calculate credit scores, and they apply different weights to some of the major factors that impact your score. The combination of multiple scoring companies and slightly different scoring methods mean you will have a few different scores. Your credit score rarely stays static, so fluctuations of a few points up or down usually aren’t anything to be concerned about. » MORE: Does my credit score follow me if I move abroad? » » MORE:

Meet MoneyNerd, your weekly news decoder

So much news. So little time. NerdWallet's new weekly newsletter makes sense of the headlines that affect your wallet.
So much news. So little time. NerdWallet's new weekly newsletter makes sense of the headlines that affect your wallet.
So much news. So little time. NerdWallet's new weekly newsletter makes sense of the headlines that affect your wallet.

Why is having good credit important?

Think about credit as a gateway to building the kind of life you want. Most people can’t pay for everything they want or need in cash, so taking the time to cultivate your score can open doors and make achieving financial goals easier. Good credit makes it easier to borrow money and will likely land you better terms, like lower interest rates, on financial products.

How to build your credit

Whether you’re starting from scratch or want to build stronger credit, here are a few strategies to get you going.

If you don’t have credit but are looking to build it

Become an authorized user on the account of a trusted family member or spouse who has a long, responsible credit history. By having your name attached to their line of credit, you can reap the benefits without worrying about the responsibility of payment. Become an authorized user on the account of a trusted family member or spouse If you can’t get a credit card because you have limited or bad credit, try a secured card. These cards require an upfront deposit, and lenders can take that deposit back if you don’t pay the balance in a timely manner. After you’ve established a history of paying on time, you can look into upgrading to an unsecured card. If you can’t get a credit card because you have limited or bad credit, try a secured card. Try a credit-builder loan, where lenders hold the money you pay in an account until the full amount is repaid, then release it back to you. Look for credit-builder loan opportunities at your local credit union or community bank. Try a credit-builder loan

If you have credit but want to strengthen your score

Be sure to make payments on time. Make at least the minimum payments to avoid being hit with a penalty. Be sure to make payments on time. Keep your credit utilization low (under 30% is good but less than 10% is ideal). Keep your credit utilization low Keep credit accounts open, especially your most long-standing accounts. Your credit history takes into account your average account age, so it's a good idea to keep your first credit card open (even if you don’t use it much now). Keep credit accounts open, especially your most long-standing accounts. Don’t apply for too many lines of credit at once. NerdWallet recommends spacing credit applications about six months apart. Don’t apply for too many lines of credit at once. Explore more on About the author Barroso Amanda Barroso, Ph.D., is a writer and content strategist helping consumers navigate budgeting, credit building and credit scoring. Before joining NerdWallet, Amanda wrote about demographic trends at the Pew Research Center and earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Her work has been featured by the Associated Press, Washington Post and Yahoo Finance. Published in Does Checking Your Credit Score Lower It? Why Did My Credit Score Drop? 9 Possible Reasons How to Calculate Your Credit Utilization Ratio Use a Credit Score Simulator to Road-Test Financial Decisions What Is a FICO Score? Here’s What You Need to Know By Amanda Barroso, Bev O'Shea What Factors Affect Your Credit Scores? By Bev O'Shea, Amanda Barroso How to Build Your Credit Score Fast: 9 Strategies That Work By Amanda Barroso, Bev O'Shea The 3 Credit Bureaus and Why They Matter to You By Amanda Barroso, Bev O'Shea