You credit rating becomes simpler and easier if you know your credit score. A free copy can be taken from the credit reporting agencies. Another thing that must be clear about is a good credit score.
FICO
FICO stands for Fair Isaac and Co. this is the company which is the pioneer. This score is based upon the information given in your credit report but it is reduced to a single number between 300 and 850.
FICO score is about the payment history, the amount you owe, length of your credit history, types of credit you have and the number of new credit you have recently applied.
Good Credit Score
When the score of your FICO is above 760 or 770, it is good. If it is around 770 you still have the chance to get reasonable deals. If your FICO score is closer to 720, it is still acceptable. Any score in the 700s are considered as good scores and most of the lenders also put in the category of above average.
If your score is around 680, lenders hesitate to final the deals with you. But if the lender is generous you have a chance of getting pretty much rate. You must then wait for old delinquencies to age off and try to pay things off in order to improve your score.
If your score lies between 660-650, you will be considered as average or even below average. This makes the lenders more nervous. You will likely have to pay a bit more while applying for a loan.
If the score is of 620, you can just get a prime mortgage loan. If you are having this much score, you must go for improving it. This will help you when you will apply for a major loan.
If the score lies below 600, it isn’t good at all. You must try to settle the debts and figure out the actual problem which is affecting your score. This will certainly help you in improving your FICO score.
If the score is below 550, you are no where. If would be really difficult for you to get a loan from any company or lender. Most of the companies do check your credit score.
Vantage Score
This is also known as a plus score. You can also call it new FICO but it is still at the second place to the actual FICO score. It is given to you if you buy your credit score from Experian. In this case, you aren’t given the FICO score.
There are certain disadvantages with the vantage score. The first one is the reliability factor; most of the lenders rely only on the FICO score. The scale for vantage score is of 501 to 990, rather than 300 to 850, so it makes it a bit complicated. The scores are also taken and calculated differently.
Converting Vantage to FICO
In order to convert your Vantage score into FICO score, you will have to follow the following mathematical steps:
Vantage score minus 501
Multiply by 1.125
Add 300
For example, a Vantage score of 900 would be:
900 – 501 = 399
399 x 1.125 = 449 (rounded)
449 + 300 = 749 FICO score
