Your credit score is a picture of your credit history. It’s created by a computer statistical model, and if you have a low score, it can mean that you won’t be able to get credit, whether in the form of a credit card, or a loan. Or, if you are given credit with a low score, then it will be at a higher rate of interest.
Your credit score is sometimes known as your FICO score, (which rhymes with ‘psycho’) after Fair, Isaac & Co, the company which creates credit score computer models. These models are mathematical models contained in computer programs. Information is fed into them; this information may contain data about the state of the economy, consumer repayment behavior, wages, and interest rates, and so on, and the models are created out of all these separate pieces of information.
In a nutshell: FICO
FICO is a way for lenders to calculate your creditworthiness. FICO scores are measured using data like bill-payment history, the kinds and number of finance accounts you have, and your outstanding debts. FICO scores are usually between 300 and 850, and the lower your score, the higher the lender’s risk.
These computer models which calculate the scores are closely guarded secrets, because a lot of research goes into developing them. When the models are applied to a an applicant’s name, a credit score for that applicant is returned. Credit scores are returned as a number, and the numbers can range from 300 to 900. An average score is around 750. When calculated with the FICO model, when your credit score goes down, your risk of defaulting on your loans increases. The correlation between a low credit score, and high default rates, is well understood in the credit industry.
In the USA, there are three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. When you apply for a loan, the lender will contact these agencies and pay a fee to be given your FICO score as calculated by a financial product sold by that agency. Because different information goes into compiling the scores, these scores are sold as financial products, under various trademarks. For example, example Beacon, Beacon 96 and the Pinnacle are products sold by Equifax.
Major credit reporting agencies
Equifax: http://www.equifax.com/
Experian: http://www.experian.com/
Trans Union: http://www.transunion.com/index.jsp
In addition to using report information from agencies like Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, all major lenders have their own in-house ways of generating FICO scores.
FICO and the law: the FICO computer statistical models are regulated
Because FICO scores are created using statistical probabilities, companies may be tempted to use statistics which are unfair to minority or other groups – women and racial minorities for example. If companies were allowed to do this, it would put entire segments of the population at a huge disadvantage.
Therefore, to level the playing field, the government has decided that companies cannot apply statistical probabilities in any way that they wish. Race, for example, can’t be added to the statistical model. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act makes it illegal to use a credit scoring model with illegal bias taking into account factors like race, color, religion, country of origin, sex, or marital status. In addition, anyone who applies for a credit and is refused must be given a reason, and the reasons that the credit was denied must be exact. No one can deny you credit by saying: “Your score’s too low.”
How your FICO scores are calculated
Of course there’s no way of using a similar computer model as that which is used by FICO because the model is a secret, but a rough guide is useful in that it will tell you what is considered important when it comes to credit scores.
Here’s a rough guide to how FICO scores are calculated:
Your payment history: 35%
How you pay your bills is important. Paying bills late, having an account sent to a collection agency, or a declaration of bankruptcy will adversely affect your FICO score. The further back in time the problem occurred, the less weight it’s given. This means that if you paid your electric bill late a month ago, it’s worse than if you declared bankruptcy six years ago. What happened a month ago indicates your current financial situation.
Your outstanding debt: 30%
When you’re applying for more credit, the amount of money you currently owe is important. If you have several credit cards on which you’re close to the limit, this adversely affects the score. Low balances on your cards helps: it shows that you’re managing your money.
The length of your credit history: 5%
The longer a credit history you have, which shows prompt repayments of your bills and that you’ve been paying off your loans, the better.
Recent inquiries on your report: 10%
If you ask a company to lend you money, they want to know who else you’ve asked.
If you have recently applied for many new accounts, that may negatively affect your score. Promotional inquiries don’t count – those inquiries you make because you were offered an inducement or something free, are not calculated as other inquiries are. After all, you may just have wanted information and the freebie.
The kinds of credit that you use: 10%
What kinds of credit do you have? Any loans that you have from finance companies usually lower your credit score. This is because finance companies charge higher rates of interest, and people don’t get loans from finance companies if they can get a cheaper interest rate from a bank.
If your credit score is low, you’ll have problems getting a loan
If your credit score is much lower than the average of 750, you’ll have challenges convincing anyone to give you a loan at an affordable rate – or even any loan at all.
Your credit history can vary from bureau to bureau, and so can your credit scores
The are three main credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are separate companies and they’re in competition with each other, so they’re trying to generate the most accurate credit scores. This means that the scores the companies give you may vary, often widely, depending on how they’ve applied the FICO information. You may have a high score with one and a low credit score with another, and you can have a good credit history with one bureau and a messy one another bureau. There shouldn’t be a big difference in your credit scores with each of the bureaus, but sometimes your score can vary by up to 100 points. Therefore someone who’s working out whether they should give you credit will use the middle score. This won’t help you much if all three scores are low, or if two are low, and one is 750 – because the middle score will be used. Usually someone with good credit will have scores like, 695, 710 and 750.
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