About FICO® Scores
In the 1980s, Fair, Isaac and Company devised a mathematical model to predict the credit risk of consumers based on information in their credit report. Today, the Fair, Isaac system -- known as FICO® -- is the scoring model most widely used by lenders.
For over a decade, Equifax and Fair, Isaac have offered businesses the BEACON® FICO® score, which is the score calculated when the Fair Isaac model is applied to the Equifax credit file. Scores calculated using the Fair, Isaac model are commonly referred to as FICO® scores and are the scores most used by lenders. In 2001, Equifax and Fair, Isaac gave consumers access -- for the first time -- to their FICO® credit score with the launch of Score Power®.
Score Power® demystifies your credit score by telling you what your score is, explaining how lenders may interpret it, and giving you ways to improve it.
Facts About Your Score
Your score ranges from 300 to 850, but the majority of scores fall within the 600s and 700s. Higher scores indicate a lower credit risk. For a score to be calculated, your credit report must contain at least one account that has been open for six months or more, and at least one account that has been updated in the past six months.
As your data changes at the credit reporting company, so will any new score based on your credit report. So your FICO® score from a month ago is probably not the same score a lender would get from the credit reporting company today.