Shutterstock. Bad credit can mean you will pay a higher interest rate when borrowing money than if you had a good credit score. It can also affect your eligibility for a loan or line of credit.

Key Takeaways. A FICO score between 300 and 579 is considered a bad credit score. With a bad credit score, if you do get approved for credit, you'll likely have to pay high interest rates.

No single number defines a bad credit score for a car loan. In general though, if your credit score is below the mid-600s, you can expect higher interest rates and more difficulty getting a loan.

A bad credit score generally falls below 600 on a scale of 300-850, depending on the credit scoring model. Bad credit is often used interchangeably with a “poor” credit score.

The consequences of bad credit can even extend to your job search or apartment hunt. since both employers and landlords want to work with people who have a history of managing money responsibly ...

Experian also writes that “credit mix,” or managing installment accounts ... Factors that may contribute to a bad credit score include late payments of more than 30 days and utilization rate.

This means that certain debt relief strategies, like using a balance transfer card to temporarily wipe out interest charges, ...

A credit card with a history of late payments could result in bad credit scores for you. It’s best to be an authorized user on a card with a low balance-to-limit ratio (a.k.a. credit utilization ).

Having bad credit or no credit doesn't mean you can't get approved for a credit card, you just need to look for a card with low or no score requirement.

Shutterstock. Bad credit can mean you will pay a higher interest rate when borrowing money than if you had a good credit score. It can also affect your eligibility for a loan or line of credit.