A credit score condenses your entire borrowing and repayment history into a single three-digit number, running from 300 at the low end to 850 at the top. Lenders use it as a quick shorthand for how risky it is to lend you money — without it, every credit decision would require a full manual review of your history. * Most scoring models split that 300-to-850 range into five bands. Poor covers 300 to 579, and people in this range often get denied for traditional credit outright, or approved only at very high interest rates. Fair runs 580 to 669, sometimes called "subprime" — approval is more possible here, but options and terms are usually limited. * Good starts at 670 and runs to 739, and this is the point where lenders generally start treating you as an acceptable, lower-risk borrower, opening up access to more loans and credit cards with reasonable rates. Very Good, 740 to 799, reflects a longer track record of responsible credit use and typically makes approval even easier. Excellent, 800 and above, puts you in low-risk territory where the best rates and terms are usually available. * These ranges aren't just an academic exercise — a bank, landlord, or even a cell phone provider can use them to decide whether to approve you at all, and if so, at what interest rate or deposit requirement. A jump from the "fair" range into "good" can mean a meaningfully lower interest rate on the same loan amount. * Because different scoring models weigh factors slightly differently, your exact number can vary a few points depending on which score a specific lender pulls — but the same broad five-tier structure applies across nearly all of them.