” FICO® Score vs credit score: What is the difference? “
A credit score is a three-digit number that tells lenders how likely you are to pay your credit obligations. A FICO® Score is a type of credit risk score, much like Coca-Cola® is a type of soft drink.
It’s important to understand how your FICO Score and other types of credit scores work. Good credit scores can make your financial life easier to navigate and may help you save money along the way.
What is a FICO® Score?
A FICO Score is one of the most popular credit scores lenders use in the United States. Fair Isaac Corporation (today known as FICO) introduced the FICO Score in 1989 to standardize credit scores in the lending industry. Prior to the FICO Score, lenders used many different scores to assess creditworthiness — some of which even considered political affiliation and gender.
Today, 90% of top lenders use FICO Scores to measure credit risk. According to the company, it sells 10 billion FICO Scores every year to lenders.
How a FICO Score works
The job of a FICO Score is to predict how likely a consumer is to pay a bill 90 days late (or worse) anytime in the upcoming 24 months. To make that prediction, a FICO scoring model examines your credit report and looks for clues in credit history — how you’ve managed debts in the past and how you’re managing your current credit obligations.
FICO Scores range from 300 to 850. A higher score means you’re less likely to pay late and a lower score means the opposite.
READ more at: https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/credit-score/difference-between-fico-score-and-credit-score/