BLOG

Know Your Number

Published: May 27, 2025

Tips for understanding your credit score

The three main credit score companies (also known as credit bureaus or credit reporting agencies) in the United States are:

Equifax
Experian
TransUnion

These companies collect and maintain consumer credit information, which they use to generate credit reports and calculate credit scores. While each bureau may have slightly different information and scoring models, all three play a major role in determining your overall credit health. We will review the FICO score, which is the primary metric most lenders use to assess your creditworthiness. The FICO scoring system ranges from 300-850. It is based on five elements:

Payment History (35%)
Credit Utilization (30%)
Length of Credit History (15%)
Credit Mix (10%)
New Inquiries (10%)

Paying off Debt

Canceling a credit card to avoid temptation makes sense, but if the card has a high limit and no annual fee, you may be better off keeping the card to maintain low credit utilization.

If you have $10,000 in available credit across all your cards and your combined balance is $1,500, your credit utilization is 15%. If you close a credit card after paying it off, you reduce the total amount of credit available to you.

Credit History

Getting out of debt can wipe out some of your credit history. The scoring algorithm awards you more points the longer you have a record of dealing with cards and loans. If you cancel a card or pay off a loan, the length of your credit history may decrease if that account is no longer included in the calculation.

Credit Mix

The scoring system loves to see a mix of different types of credit, such as a car loan, a mortgage, and a couple of credit cards. When you pay off a loan, it can reduce your credit score mix.

If your credit score does fall after paying off debt, don’t worry, it will work itself out over time. The decline will likely be small – credit history and credit mix have a combined weight of only 25%. Never regret paying off debt and moving toward financial freedom!

Brewery Credit Union’s SavvyMoney Credit Score is available through online and mobile banking. SavvyMoney Credit Score is a free service offered to help you understand your credit score, give access to your full credit report, provide credit monitoring alerts, simulate and learn ways to improve your score and see ways you can save money on new and existing loans. Login to online banking to see your score.

BREWERY CREDIT UNION MISSION STATEMENT

“Providing superior financial service while economically empowering our Members and Community.”

We do our best every day to complete this mission with the greatest member satisfaction and highest quality service.

MEMBER OWNED

We have members, not customers. Brewery Credit Union is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the member-owners.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT

As a not-for-profit organization, we focus on meeting members needs. This means we take our profits and use them to offer lower loan rates, higher savings rates, and fewer service fees.

PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE

Every day at Brewery Credit Union, you invest in the community and the community invests in you. We lend deposits to members who and work in Southeastern Wisconsin neighborhoods, making sure your money stays here.

WE ARE A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTION (CDFI)

Brewery Credit Union (BCU) offers the same commitment to our members since we chartered in 1934 as Brewery Workers Credit Union. The Brewery Workers Union Local 9 represented the many breweries and malting companies in Milwaukee. They formed the Credit Union for those in the brewing industry to have a safe place to borrow and save. The Brewery Workers Union Local 9 was also the original home of the Brewery Workers Credit Union. The Credit Union moved to Schlitz Brewery for a number of years until building our current home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. In 1984, the Credit Union changed our name to Brewery Credit Union and currently offers membership to anyone who lives in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, or Washington counties, in addition to members of the Museum of Beer and Brewing. “Once a member always a member,” means should you ever relocate out of the area, your membership can continue.

Our members have access to the many products and services that Brewery Credit Union offers. We pride ourselves on offering new technology to make transacting business easier and faster than ever. The Credit Union’s mission of economically empowering our members and communities means that we will not judge a member for a blemished past. We want to help our members reach their financial goals and dreams. We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to achieve financial security and have access to safe, low-cost financial products and services. If you believe our mission will benefit you financially, or your membership will support members seeking to benefit from our mission, we would like you to become a member/owner of our great organization.