1. Your FICO Score isn’t your only credit score — you’ve got a lot of them — but it’s one of the most important. When making lending decisions, 90% of top lenders use FICO Scores when deciding whether or not to loan you money, and at what interest rate. Show 2. The history behind the move from fee to free began with something called FICO Score Open Access. Fair Isaac Corp. — creator of the FICO Score — launched the policy in 2013 to educate consumers and increase access to credit scores. It encouraged financial institutions to provide credit scores for free to their customers. 3. A general rule about credit scores: the higher your score, the better. This chart shows how your base FICO Score breaks down in a range of 300-850. Here are the FICO credit score ranges:
4. Identity theft can be a serious threat to your FICO Score. For instance, a thief who uses your identity to open a new credit card, rack up purchases, and skip out on the bill can push down your credit score. That’s big, since your credit score can influence whether you can get a credit card, mortgage, auto loan, or job. 5. It’s smart to pay attention to your FICO Score, and it’s nice to be able to do it for free. How is my FICO Score calculated?Your FICO Score is derived from information in your credit report. Your credit report is a history of how you’ve handled borrowed money in the past. When it comes to calculating your credit score, your data falls into five categories. Each category influences your credit score. How much? It varies. Here are the five categories. The percentages reflect the influence each has in determining how your FICO Score is calculated.
The factors that go into a FICO Score are based on the borrowing habits of the general U.S. population. FICO may not determine your credit score in exactly the same way. Ways to increase your FICO ScoreIt takes time to boost your FICO Score. Here are a few ways to get started.
You can help raise your credit score by practicing responsible financial habits. That way, when you get your FICO Score for free, you might be pleasantly surprised. Get LifeLock Identity Theft Protection 30 DAYS FREE* Criminals can open new accounts, get payday loans, and even file tax returns in your name. There was a victim of identity theft every 3 seconds in 2019°, so don’t wait to get identity theft protection. The federal government gives us the right to a free credit report once a year which gives us the opportunity to make sure our credit reports are accurate, but there's no government mandate for annual free FICO scores - the credit score lenders most often use to approve credit applications. Reviewing your credit score in addition to your credit report will give you a better idea of where your credit stands. You can get one free credit report per week from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian through December 2023 at AnnualCreditReport.com. You may be able to receive a free FICO score by signing up for another subscription service, but that isn't always a good option. You might also get a free FICO score if you're denied a product or service or if you receive less favorable terms because of your FICO score. Instead, if you want to get a feel for where your credit stands, you can use a FICO score estimator. FICO score estimators ask you a series of multiple-choice questions about your credit history and use that information to provide a range that your FICO score should fall into. The questions are based on the categories of information that are used to calculate your FICO score—payment history, level of debt, the age of credit history, the mix of credit, and recent credit applications. A few of the questions include: Based on your answers to the questions, there may be follow up questions. For example, if you answer that you've ever missed a payment, the FICO score estimator follows up with "What is the most delinquent you have ever been on a loan or credit card?" Getting a good estimate of your FICO score means knowing your credit history. You'll need to know how many open credit cards you have, the balances on those cards, how many recent credit applications you've made, the total amount of your loan balances, etc. Since many people have such extensive credit history that's too hard to remember, it's a good idea to have your credit report handy when you go through the FICO score estimator. That way you can give the most accurate answers to the questions. If you haven't checked your credit report recently, you can get a free copy of all three credit reports through AnnualCreditReport.com. You can also see a free credit report from TransUnion and Equifax at CreditKarma.com. Beware of any site that asks for your credit card number to check your free credit report. At the end of the questionnaire, the FICO score estimator gives you a range where your FICO score would fall based on your answers to the questions. Of course, the estimator isn't foolproof. Your real FICO score could fall outside the range, either above it or below it. You can always order a true FICO score from myFICO.com. If you just want to have a general idea of your score, an estimator is a quick, easy, and free way to get it. Three Sites With EstimatorsThere are a few websites offering FICO score estimators and, since they're all powered by myFICO.com, they ask the same questions and provided you give the same answers, you'd receive the same FICO score estimate for each. The one you choose is a matter of preference:
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