Personal credit score

Your personal score comes from your credit reports at Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Base FICO Scores run from 300 to 850, and higher is better. Payment history and amounts owed carry the most weight.

For a young or small business, the owner's credit often stands in for the company's. Funders use it to judge how you handle obligations, and some set minimums. For revenue-based products, bank deposits usually carry more weight than the score.

Openbook Capital reviews every credit profile, and most funders look for a personal score of 500 or higher. Applying through Openbook does not affect your score, because the application asks for no SSN and no bank login. A funder may check your credit later, during its own verification.