How credit scoring works outside the US

Why countries have credit ratings

Sovereign credit ratings work like national credit scores, measuring a country’s ability and willingness to repay its debt. Moody’s, S&P, and Fitch are the major agencies assigning these ratings, which influence borrowing costs and investor confidence.

How to check your credit score

Contrary to popular belief, checking your credit score doesn’t hurt your credit. Many credit card companies show your score when you log into their app online, but there are other ways to check it.

Privacy concerns in the credit scoring system

Because credit scores use a lot of personal information (such as whether or not someone makes credit card payments on time), some worry their privacy is being compromised in the data collection process.

How the credit scoring system could change

Factoring rental payments into credit scores is just one proposed change some have suggested making to today’s credit scoring system to cater the system to renters as well as homeowners.

What your credit score actually means

The modern iteration of credit scores hasn’t been around for that long—it was invented just a few decades ago, in 1989. This video outlines how the credit scoring system has evolved and become more complex since then. Plus, it explains what your credit score actually means, what factors impact your score, and more. Watch it here.

How is credit reporting regulated in the US?

While the three main credit bureaus and the credit scoring companies aren't government entities, they are subject to certain US government regulations, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

What are business credit scores?

Businesses have credit scores the same way individuals do—with a few key differences. For one thing, business credit scores range from 0 to 100 instead of 300 to 850, and are based on factors such as bankruptcy and bill-paying habits.

See how a good VantageScore and a good FICO score can differ

While VantageScores and FICO scores both offer credit scores between 300 and 850 and consider the same core factors, they weigh those factors differently, and specific numbers can have different meanings depending on the type of score.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Kal Penn explains credit scores

Kal Penn, the actor who played Kumar in the “Harold and Kumar” films and appeared in shows like “How I Met Your Mother” and “House,” just so happens to know a thing or two about how the credit scoring system works in the US.

Consequences of a bad credit score

A bad credit score can lead to spending roughly $100K more on a typical mortgage. Poor scores also prevent you from getting certain jobs, apartments, and more, hindering you from building wealth in the long term.

The US tips more service providers and leaves larger amounts than anywhere else globally

This map shows how other countries stack up to the US in terms of tipping norms, and could be helpful if you’re planning to budget for a trip abroad. It also indicates if tips are typically included in the bill in each country.

Credit scores seriously suffer when individuals file for bankruptcy, and there’s no easy fix

Those who file for Chapter 7 must wait 10 years before the bankruptcy is removed from their credit report. For Chapter 13, the wait time is seven years.

The US lags behind other developed countries in math and science scores

The Programme for International Student Assessment, administered every three years by the OECD to 15-year-olds, scores US students below the OECD average in math (465 vs. 472) and only slightly above average in science (499 vs. 485). These figures place US pupils in the lower half of developed nations.

Selecting an embryo based on polygenic score is illegal in the UK, Israel, and swaths of Europe

Though their use for embryo selection is illegal in many locations, private clinics in the US may offer polygenic scores to inform embryo selection. The US Food and Drug Administration has not banned their use—instead the tests are regulated like supplements, meaning they are not regulated before they come to market but consumers can file complaints and then the agency may take action.

Rewards credit cards can offer points, travel miles, and more

For every dollar that a cardholder spends on a rewards credit card, they can also receive benefits such as cash back, airline miles, and more. For many, rewards are the reason they make so many purchases on credit cards in the first place.

Voting in the US has shifted from days-long journeys to modern, secure ballots

In the early 1800s, voting was limited and arduous, often requiring long travel and in-person balloting. This illustrated resource traces how voting technology evolved to expand access, speed elections, and improve security over time.

In the US, you must actively sign up to donate your organs

The US has an opt-in donation system for organ donation—meaning people must provide consent to proceed with any donation. Locations including Spain, the United Kingdom, and Argentina have an opt-out donation system, which means individuals are presumed to be donors unless they actively refuse consent.

Most of Netflix's subscribers are outside the US

Accordingly, each year, Netflix releases an expansive slate of international shows and movies to subscribers worldwide, including hits that crossed over to the US, like "Squid Game."

16 credit unions with almost no membership requirements

One of the hallmarks of credit unions is that they tend to be exclusive. For instance, one of the largest credit unions only does business with Boeing employees. However, this roundup introduces 16 credit unions that have practically no membership requirements. Interested customers may need to guarantee $5 minimum deposits and in some cases, make a donation to an affiliated charitable organization.

Studies show immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans

Research examining incarceration records and crime data generally finds that immigrants—including undocumented individuals—have lower crime and incarceration rates than US-born citizens, though measurement is limited by gaps in national data on immigration status.

Workers need 40 ‘credits’ to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits

Forty credits are equal to about 10 years of full-time work. If someone has never worked, they won’t be eligible for benefits on their own, but they could qualify via a spouse, ex-spouse, or dependent.

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

Unconditional birthright citizenship is rare outside the Americas

Around 30 countries, mostly in the Americas, grant automatic citizenship by birthplace. Elsewhere—especially in Europe, Asia, and Africa—citizenship typically follows jus sanguinis, based on parental descent rather than location of birth.

Behind the Ryder Cup, the tournament that features golfers playing for their home countries

Established in 1927, the Ryder Cup is unlike any other tournament. The scoring includes a mix of fourball, foursomes, and singles, with half-points for ties. Explore the rich history of the Ryder Cup in this detailed interactive. Each era of history includes detailed accounts of the match, historic photos, and the final score for each team.

Leagues like the Premier League differ from the World Cup

The Premier League and other similar club leagues are professional organizations like the NFL or the NBA, where owners purchase player contracts. World Cup teams, on the other hand, are organized by citizenship.

The UK was already in a depression before the US Great Depression took hold

The US Great Depression was felt globally, but the severity and length of different countries’ economic downturns varied. For instance, Japan was the first country to exit its depression.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

The hormonal disorder PCOS was renamed PMOS in 2026, a move designed to improve care and research by shifting the focus to the hormonal causes of this condition that affects 1 in 8 women.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.