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Major credit card issuers are lining up to听offer free FICO听scores, allowing more people than ever to become intimately familiar with their credit score. But what about credit听reports, which have been free for years?

鈥淔ifteen or 16 years ago, no one knew about credit scores,鈥� says Bruce McClary, a spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. 鈥淣ow you can get them anywhere, like a vending machine. The disconnect is that consumers know the number but not what the driver is.鈥�

Your credit score is a three-digit summary of the information in your credit report 鈥� useful, but not the full story. If your credit card issuer offers free scores, you can track yours on your monthly statement or by logging into your account online. But unless you understand听how your credit card usage and other financial听activity appears on听your credit report, you鈥檙e just guessing听about the cause of any rise or fall in your score.

In a 2015听survey, the American Bankers Association found that 60% of consumers had checked their credit report in the previous 12 months and 66% had checked their score. But just how many听people听really听looked at their report is unclear: In the same survey,听44% said that credit report and credit score were different names for the same thing.

How credit card use factors into scores

A quick look at听the factors that make up your FICO听score, the credit scoring model used by most lenders, immediately makes clear how easily you can harm听your credit with careless credit card use 鈥� or help it with responsible actions:

• Payment history:听35%. Bills paid听more than 30 days late will show up on your credit report and hurt your score.
• Amounts you owe (both in total and as a percentage of available credit):听30%. High balances or maxed-out cards can knock points off your score, even if you鈥檙e keeping up with payments.听听
• Age of accounts:听15%. Old accounts are good for your score, so closing credit cards can hurt you.
• New accounts:听10%. Applying for or opening too many new credit cards within a relatively short period of time is a red flag to scoring models.
• Credit mix:听10%. Credit score algorithms tend to reward a diverse mix of credit accounts.

The level of detail offered in credit reports makes them invaluable听for understanding how your actions affect your score.

鈥淵our credit report is just as important as your score,鈥� says credit expert Beverly Harzog, author of 鈥淭he Debt Escape Plan.鈥� 鈥淵ou need to start with your credit report. Wherever you are in credit life, you want to check your report.鈥�

Since the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act was amended in 2003, everyone is entitled to a free credit report once a year from each of the major credit-reporting bureaus听鈥� Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You can access those reports at听AnnualCreditReport.com. 鈥淭ake advantage of that,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淚 spread them out, one every four months. It鈥檚 also a chance to spot fraud. Fraud can occur when someone gets your personal information and then opens accounts in your name.鈥�

Reading your credit report

So what do you do once you get the report? 鈥淟ook at the report very carefully: personal information, the accounts listed, everything. Be sure there are no errors or mistakes,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淚f there is a missed payment, say, and it鈥檚 not true, write to the credit bureau and get it fixed. And remember, lenders don鈥檛 necessarily report to all three bureaus, so there might be different information on each [report].鈥�

Sometimes, you may not recognize an account listed on your credit report. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e not sure who the creditor is, just Google the name,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淚f you can鈥檛 figure out the account, it may not be something you opened.鈥�

Conversely, if an account is missing from your report, contact the credit card company or creditor and ask that your听account be reported听the credit bureaus, so that your responsible credit use is reflected in your score. Making sure your credit report is accurate is ultimately your responsibility, not that of the credit bureau.

Tips for managing credit cards

After you鈥檝e checked your credit report, make a plan to manage your credit to your greatest advantage. If you鈥檙e fairly new to credit, you can鈥檛 do much about the length of your credit history. But even if you have only one credit card, you still can take steps to improve your credit score.

Never pay late or default on a credit card.听Paying on time is the single most important element听of your credit score 鈥� and it鈥檚 not hard to do. 鈥淭here are so many ways to help you do this,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淎utomatic payments, email alerts so you don鈥檛 miss payments, financial management software like Mint. Pay all bills on time so you will have good credit.鈥�

Keep credit utilization low.听Credit card issuers don鈥檛 want to see that you鈥檙e using all of your available听credit. In general, aim听to keep utilization below 30%. The lower, the better. 鈥淚f you keep it below 10%, you can maximize your score,鈥� Harzog says. Credit expert John Ulzheimer, who worked for FICO, has said that people with FICO scores of 780 and up have an average of 7% utilization. 鈥淭hat may seem hard to do,鈥� Harzog says, 鈥渂ut there are things you can do to lower your utilization. Call your issuer and ask when they report to the bureaus. If they tell you, you can pay before they report your payment history, so your balance is zero.鈥�

Don鈥檛 open a lot of new credit cards.听A sign-up bonus of 40,000 miles for opening a new credit card looks great, and so does that $150 cash bonus on another card. But applying for both of them can hurt you. 鈥淲hen you open a credit card account, they鈥檒l do a hard inquiry on your credit report,鈥� Harzog says, 鈥渁nd that can make your score drop anywhere from 2 to 5 points for each inquiry. It鈥檚 not like looking for a mortgage, [in which case] the FICO score can recognize you鈥檙e rate shopping. Credit cards aren鈥檛 like that.鈥�

Don鈥檛 keep moving balances from one card to another.听Balance transfer offers are attractive if the cards provide a 0% annual percentage rate听for a period of time. 鈥淚f this is a chance to transfer high-interest debt to a 0% card, you鈥檒l eventually help your score,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淕etting out of toxic debt has to be your focus.鈥�

But if you鈥檙e still carrying the transferred balance at the end of the 0% period, you could be charged the ongoing APR on the entire amount. Remember that you鈥檒l usually pay a balance transfer fee of 3% or 4% on the amount you鈥檙e transferring, and the 0% APR may apply only to the transferred balance, not new purchases.

Keep accounts open.听Say you transfer a balance to a new card and think the responsible thing to do is to close the old one. 鈥淧eople think of consolidating debt as a good thing and generally it is,鈥� says NFCC鈥檚 McClary. 鈥淏ut if they follow up by closing accounts that were paid off, they don鈥檛 think of the ramifications on the credit score. You鈥檙e bringing the available credit ceiling closer to the amount you owe.鈥�

Harzog doesn鈥檛 recommend closing a credit card account, but notes that there is one circumstance when you might. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a reward card with a high annual fee and you鈥檙e not using it, close it. But first,听apply for a card听that鈥檚 more appropriate for you,鈥� she says. 鈥淕et the new card in place before you close the other card.鈥� This way, your credit utilization ratio won鈥檛 go down, assuming the credit limits are the same.

Ask about听reports sent to credit bureaus.听If you open a secured credit card to build your credit score, be sure the issuer reports your payment history听to the credit reporting agencies. Not all of them do. Also, if you use a prepaid debit card, that won鈥檛 be reported either.

鈥淵ou can choose to have a great score, you really can,鈥� Harzog says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all about getting your foundation in place. Make a budget and track expenses. Manage your money responsibly. And keep an eye on your credit report.鈥�

Ellen Cannon is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email:ecannon@nerdwallet.com. Twitter:听@ellencannon.

This article first appeared at NerdWallet.