Having at least a 721 credit score will give you a chance to secure some of the best financing options on the market, get preferred interest rates on loans and credit cards, and have more negotiating power when you’re talking terms with a prospective lender.

A new credit scoring model will potentially boost scores for many credit applicants and help establish credit for millions of people who previously had little or no credit history. The new scoring model will be used in the latest version of the VantageScore, the credit score created by the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

NSF checks (Non Sufficient Funds), also referred as a bounced check are considered bad and will end up on your credit report — lowering your FICO Score and preventing you from obtaining credit.

If you haven’t started playing the FICO game yet, here are 10 little-known credit cheats that will help you get to the next credit level. There’s one score that follows you around for life — your credit score!

All Credit Reports are Not Created Equal — This means that your interest rate is somewhat dependent on whichever credit report your lender uses. This may not sound significant but a few points could mean the difference between being classified from the no credit risk category to the some Credit Risk category or even the default credit risk category. This could mean having several percentage points added to your loan.