Yes, you are incentivized to stay in debt, because creditors want to know that you are both willing to take on debt AND pay it off. The sweet spot for them is someone who never really pays it off but still makes minimum payments while interest piles on. This is the system working as intended.

*Laughs in european

At least in France, they look at your income, your eventual debt monthly payments, and see if you will be able to pay more or not.

My credit score is just under 750 right now and I haven't had any significant bills for a while. It's all because I co-signed with a loan my dad got that has been counting toward it.

I still can't open a line of credit above $350 tho. That score is so bullshit.

I missed a credit card repayment by 1 day and my score dropped almost 300 points (UK. 800 (very good) -> ~500 (below average))

Why would that cause your score to go down!?

Same here, paid off a 6 year in 2, score dropped 54 points.
Surprised all my student loans didn't buffer it a bit those are very old.

I can't speak for anywhere else but credit scores are more or less bullshit in Australia.

As in, of course if you have outstanding bills or a legal claim against you no one gonna lend you money. You don't need a score to tell you that.

Similarly, if you've got enough money for repayments banks want to lend you money.

Anything in-between is about specific problems. An unpaid bill, not enough income, whatever.

The actual credit score isn't important. It's more like marketing - get a credit card to improve your score.

I paid off all of my debt and closed all of my open accounts. Credit score 515. Make it make sense. Fuck up once? 7 years of bad juju. Pay off all your debt? they forget immediately.

Car companies typically use TransUnion and they are normally higher than the other 2.