Average Credit Score
September 30, 2008 by awjolls
Filed under Credit Scores, Top Posts
The average credit score varies depending on the scoring model you are using.
According to Fair Isaac, it is a 723. This is the FICO Score model used by a majority of mortgage lenders. But if you ask the folks over Vantage Score, you are probably going to get a much higher number as they have a scale that unlike the FICO range of 300-850 goes from 501-990.
You can get even more confused with the National Score Index which states a national average credit score of 694. This is based on a 330 to 830 range.
What does average mean anyway? Not many lenders are looking for average candidates these days. They want people with the best credit. And while an average of 723 used to be fine, now you need an above average credit score to get the best rates or even get a loan at all.
This is why it’s important to check your FICO credit score as it’s most likely the one your lender will use in your lending decision.
What is FICO ‘08 and How Does It Impact My FICO Credit Score? – Episode #39
An update on an earlier episode where I discuss the FICO ‘08 Credit Score model. This update includes a new change where authorized users will be included in the model. Earlier, Fair Isaac considered removing authorized user information in the FICO scoring model to address the issue of “piggybacking”. While the piggybackers may feel they won this battle, Fair Isaac promises it has found ways to address this issue by figuring out when someone is trying to piggyback it game someone elses FICO Credit Score. It will then not allow those types of auth users to benefit. Below is my original post where FICO had planned to remove the authorized users feature.
June 30, 2008
What is FICO ‘08. Well, hopefully you know what a FICO score is. If you don’t start with our Credit 101 Lesson. Think of FICO ‘08 it like a version of software which takes time to adopt. There are other versions of FICO, like FICO NextGen, and financial institutions have to decide/purchase a version of FICO they want — like choosing Windows Vista vs Windows XP.
What’s different about FICO ‘08? Banks should like FICO ‘08 because it should lead to fewer defaults. For consumers, it should mean better scores for the occasional mishap folks and worse scores for those that are late or more credit distressed.
