Tradeline.

In plain English

A tradeline is one account on your credit report, showing the lender's name, the balance, the credit limit or original loan amount, your payment history, and the account status. Every credit card, auto loan, student loan, mortgage, and personal loan you have is its own tradeline. The three nationwide credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) build your report and your score from these tradelines. A long history of on-time tradelines helps your score, while a single missed payment on one tradeline can pull it down.

01Why it matters

Lenders read your tradelines to decide if they will approve you and what rate to charge, so the way each account is reported affects the cost of every loan you apply for.

02The math, step by step

Say you have three tradelines: a credit card opened five years ago, a car loan opened two years ago, and a student loan from college. Each one reports its own balance and payment record. If you pay all three on time, all three help your score; if you miss one payment on the car loan, only that tradeline shows the late mark, but your whole score can drop.

03What this is NOT

04Receipts

Every figure on this page is sourced to a primary document. Tap to open the original.