What actually moves a credit score?

Detailed Explanation

Four factors may carry most of the weight: payment history, credit utilisation, the age of your accounts, and recent applications for new credit. Payment history dominates. A single missed payment can undo months of otherwise good behaviour because it is the most direct evidence of what the score is trying to predict. The others are slower-moving. Utilisation responds within a billing cycle, account age only improves with time, and new credit has a temporary effect. Scoring models differ by provider and country, so treat the ranking as the system's shape rather than a precise formula.