By Peter Carville

In the face of a worsening economy, would-be borrowers are having an increasingly difficult time getting approved for home and car loans. Although you can't control how the banks set their lending criteria, you can control how your credit score shapes up - and the first step towards improving your score, is learning how it's calculated.

Your credit score, also known as your FICO score, is an indication of credit worthy you are; it's a simple three-digit figure that is able to determine the amount you can borrow and the interest you'll have to pay.

FICO scores range from 300 to 850 and the higher your FICO score, the better your loan approval conditions, as a rule of thumb. A greater FICO score translates to greater lending limits and lower interest rates, so it's definitely a good idea to keep your FICO score looking as good as possible.

It's called a FICO score because the number is based on a formula developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation. They begin by looking at a summary of all your credit accounts, including car and personal loans, store cards, mortgages and of course credit cards. The focus is on your repayment history: made late bill payments or have you missed many payments? Do you have any outstanding debts that you've never repaid?

Normally, a score above 700 is considered to be a good result. In order to achieve this, you need to make on-time, regular repayments on all of your bills; maintain high credit limits so that your debt-to-limit ratio appears strong; manage at least one or two credit cards, ensuring you keep your balances low; and regularly monitor your FICO score to rectify any incorrect transactions that are recorded.

Your score is calculated via a very specific formula, so keep this in mind next time you consider closing an account or reducing your credit card limit:

35% is based by your repayment history.

30% is based on your total credit card limits, as compared to your total debt balances.

15% is based on the length of your credit history - including the length of time you've had each account open, and the level of activity on each account.

10% is based on inquiry levels, in other words how many accounts you've recently opened or attempted to open, compared to your total number of accounts.

10% is based on the different lending facilities you managed. For example, how you handle revolving credit card debt, is weighted more heavily than a fixed debt and repayment system, such as a home loan.