FICO - Your Credit Score

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Because we live in a computer-driven world, it's probably not that surprising that your creditworthiness boils down to a single number. Credit reporting agencies use your history of paying loans in order to create this score.

The three credit reporting agencies use slightly different formulas to build a credit score. Fair Isaac and Cooriginally developed this score. While Experian still calls its score "FICO", TransUnion calls its score "Beacon" and Equifax uses "Empirica." While each of the models considers a range of data available in your credit report, each agency uses the following to build your credit score:

• Your Credit History - How many years have you had credit?
• Payment History - Do you have any payments later than 30 days?
• Balances on your Credit Cards - How many accounts do you have, and how much do you owe?
• Requests for Credit - How many times have you had your credit checked for a loan?

These factors are assigned weights based on the formula being used. Each formula produces a single number which varies slightly from one agency to another. Credit scores range from 300 to 850. Higher is better. Most folks getting a mortgage these days have a score above 620.

FICO makes a difference in your interest rate

FICO scores affect more than your ability to get a loan. They also affect your interest rate. Higher scores indicate you are probably a better credit risk, and thus may qualify for a better mortgage rate.

Improving your score

Is there any way to raise your FICO score? Some companies promise quick fixes, but they can't do anything different than what you can do — for free. (Of course you can and should appeal incorrect items on your credit report.)

Getting your FICO score

Before you can improve your score, you must get your score and ensure that the credit reports from each agency are correct. Fair Isaac, the corporation that invented the original FICO score, offers FICO scores on its website: myFICO.com. It's inexpensive to quickly get your FICO from all three reporting agencies, along with your credit report. Also available are information and online tools that help you analyze what actions might have the greatest impact on your FICO score.

You can get a free credit report once a year from all three credit reporting agencies by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com. You won't get a free credit score from AnnualCreditReport.com, but getting it is fast and inexpensive.

Now that you have all the facts, you'll be a more informed consumer and you'll be better positioned to obtain the most favorable mortgage.