What Is A FICO Score?

What Does FICO Score Mean?

A type of credit score that makes up a substantial portion of the credit report that lenders use to assess an applicant's credit risk and whether to extend a loan.

FICO is an acronym for the Fair Isaac Corporation, the creators of the FICO score.

The goal of any credit repair program is to improve your FICO score. A FICO score was developed by the Fair Isaac Co. to help determine the likelihood of you paying if a company agrees to loan you money. Fair Isaac is the only one who knows exactly what makes up their algorithm, which is the mathematical formula used to calculate your score FICO score. It is calculated from five factors reported from the three major credit reporting agencies. These five factors are how well you pay, how much you owe, how long you ave had credit, how much new credit you have, and what types of credit you are using. Seven additional factors are then added and using a "secret formula" Fair Issac determines your score. Included in your payment history are items like bankruptcies, judgments, suits, liens, wage garnishments, collection items and delinquencies. Credit availability, includes how much you owe, what types of accounts they are, and what percentage of all the credit you have that you are using. Under length of credit history the items that are considered are how long your accounts have been opened, what types of accounts they are, and and when did you last use them.

New credit includes items like credit inquiries, inquiries due to credit application, how many new accounts have your opened recently and what types of accounts are they? Types of credits used includes credits cards, retail accounts, in store charges, installment loans, and mortgages. And it has even made a difference if you only have one brand of credit card. Here are the percentages for each part: 35% payment history, 30% amount owed, 15% length of credit history, 10% new credit 10% types of credit. What is not part of your FICO score is how much you make, how old you are, where you work, how long you worked, or what type of job you have, where you live, what race you are, your color, your religion, sex, or natural origin have no effect.

It doesn't matter whether or not you are married. It also does not matter how much your interest rates are. Anything that has to do with alimony or child support is not included. If you or your employers check your credit through one of the credit bureaus your score will not be affected. Finally if you are working in any kind of credit counseling program, that in and of itself will not affect your credit, however some credit counseling programs do suggest that you do things that will negatively affect your credit. If they negotiate any type of settlement for less than the full amount owed, or even if they negotiate a payment per month that is less than the minimum payment due each month, it will most likely have a negative effect on your credit score. The reason why credit counseling programs have such a bad name is that very few who start actually complete the program as agreed, and a number of people who do use credit counseling programs go bankrupt anyways.