FICO score

A **FICO score** is a three-digit consumer credit score developed by FICO and calculated from information in a credit report. U.S. lenders use FICO scores to assess the likelihood that a borrower will repay credit as agreed. It is one brand of credit score, not a single score shared by every lender or credit-reporting company.^[1][2]

Purpose and interpretation

A credit score condenses information about a person's credit history into a number that a lender can use as one input in a lending decision. FICO describes its scores as measures of credit risk: generally, a higher score indicates lower predicted risk. A score is not a statement of a person's income or wealth, nor is it a guarantee that an application will be approved. Lenders may consider other information and apply their own eligibility and pricing policies.^[1][3]

Most general-purpose FICO scores range from **300 to 850**. FICO's industry-specific Auto and Bankcard Scores can instead range from **250 to 900**. These scales should not be treated as interchangeable: a number has meaning in relation to the model that produced it. FICO labels general-purpose scores from 670 to 739 as “good,” but a lender's criteria for a particular product can differ from FICO's descriptive bands.^[3][4]

FICO scores may be used in decisions about credit cards, vehicle financing and mortgages. A lender can use a score when deciding whether to extend credit or what terms to offer. The score is therefore relevant to borrowing costs, but it does not, by itself, determine an interest rate. For example, a mortgage decision may also involve the applicant's income and the characteristics of the proposed loan.^[1][3]

Credit reports and score calculation

The underlying information comes principally from consumer credit reports maintained by **Equifax, Experian and TransUnion**. Those reports contain information supplied by creditors and other furnishers about accounts, balances and payment histories. A FICO model applies its scoring method to the information available from a particular reporting company at a particular time. A credit report is the underlying record; a score is a calculation based on that record.^[2][5]

FICO describes five broad categories in a typical score calculation. Their published percentages summarize their relative importance for the general population; they do not mean that every account, missed payment or inquiry changes every person's score by a fixed number of points.^[6]

- **Payment history — 35%.** The model considers whether reported credit obligations have been paid as agreed. Delinquencies and other adverse account information can affect this category. The effect of an item depends on the wider credit file rather than a universal points deduction.^[6][7] - **Amounts owed — 30%.** This category includes outstanding debt and the use of revolving credit relative to available limits, commonly called credit utilization. A balance can affect a score even when the account holder intends to pay it in full, because the calculation uses the balance shown in the report at the time it is scored.^[6][6] - **Length of credit history — 15%.** The model considers how long accounts have been established and the age of credit relationships reflected in the report. An established account and a newly opened account may therefore contribute differently to a credit file.^[6] - **New credit — 10%.** Recently opened accounts and inquiries associated with applications for credit can be relevant. This category concerns the credit activity recorded in the report; it does not mean that a consumer must continually open accounts to have a score.^[6] - **Credit mix — 10%.** The model considers the types of credit accounts reported, such as revolving accounts and installment loans. The category describes an input to the model, not a requirement to borrow through every available type of product.^[6]

FICO states that personal details such as income, age and place of residence are not direct inputs to its score calculation. That distinction does not prevent a lender from separately considering income when evaluating an application. It also does not remove the importance of the information in a credit report: an inaccurate reported account or balance can affect a score derived from that report.^[1][6]

Why a person can have multiple FICO scores

There is no permanent, universal FICO score for an individual. A score calculated from an Experian report can differ from one calculated from an Equifax or TransUnion report if the available information differs. Scores can also change as reported information changes. More broadly, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) notes that credit scores can vary with the scoring model, the source of credit-history data, the loan product and the date of calculation.^[2][5]

FICO has released successive general-purpose models, including FICO Score 8, FICO Score 9 and FICO Score 10. It also offers models intended for particular lending categories, including Auto Scores and Bankcard Scores. A lender may continue using an older model after a newer one has become available. Consequently, a score shown through a consumer service need not match the model or credit-reporting company's data used by a lender.^[4][8]

**FICO Score 10T** is distinguished from FICO Score 10 by its use of *trended credit-bureau data*. According to FICO, the trended approach can consider at least 24 months of historical information about items such as balances and credit limits, rather than relying only on the most recently reported month for those components. This is a difference in model design; it does not mean that every lender uses 10T.^[9]

Mortgage-market treatment

Model availability is distinct from acceptance for a particular kind of mortgage. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sets requirements concerning scores used for loans delivered to the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Its credit-score policy illustrates why the phrase “the mortgage FICO score” can be imprecise: requirements for eligible models are separate from the range of FICO products a consumer might see elsewhere.^[10]

As described in the FHFA's September 2026 update, lenders delivering eligible loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could continue using **Classic FICO** scores or use **VantageScore 4.0** under the enterprises' selling-guide requirements. Although FICO 10T had been approved as a model for the enterprises' transition, the FHFA stated that it was **not yet eligible for loan delivery** and that further guidance would follow. Approval of a model and its operational availability for loan deliveries are therefore different milestones.^[10] This enterprise policy does not describe the scoring rules for every mortgage offered in the United States.

Having no score

A person with little reported credit history may not meet the minimum criteria for a FICO score. FICO says that its usual minimum requirements include at least one account open for six months or more and at least one account reported to the credit bureau within the previous six months; one account can satisfy both conditions. Whether a file qualifies can, in rare cases, differ by FICO model.^[11] **Having no score is not the same as having a score of zero or the lowest possible score.** It means the available file does not meet the model's requirements for producing a score.^[11]

A credit file also need not contain every payment a household makes. The calculation depends on information present in the relevant consumer report, not on a complete account of a person's financial life. This is one reason to distinguish a score from a comprehensive assessment of a person's capacity to repay a proposed loan.^[2][5]

Consumer access, errors and notices

U.S. consumers can obtain free credit reports from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion once a week through AnnualCreditReport.com, according to the CFPB. These are reports, not necessarily FICO scores: the CFPB states that the free reports provided by the nationwide reporting companies do not include free credit scores. A score displayed by a credit-card issuer or another service should be identified by its model and reporting-company source before it is compared with a lender's score.^[12][13][5]

If a report contains inaccurate information, the consumer can dispute it with the credit-reporting company. The CFPB says the company must investigate a dispute, pass the relevant information to the company that supplied the disputed item and report the result. Disputing the **report entry** addresses the underlying information; there is no corresponding right to replace a correctly calculated score simply because its number is unfavorable.^[14][2]

Federal consumer-reporting rules also provide notices in some lending situations. For example, when information in a consumer report contributes to an adverse action, notice requirements apply. Where a creditor used a credit score in taking adverse action, applicable Fair Credit Reporting Act requirements can include disclosure of the score and key factors that adversely affected it. Such disclosed factors help explain the score used in that decision; they should not be confused with FICO's general five-category description of its scoring method.^[15][16]

A FICO score is thus best understood as a **model-specific, time-specific estimate of credit risk derived from reported information**. Its usefulness to a lender, and its limits for a consumer trying to interpret a number, both follow from those features: the report, model and date matter, and the lending decision can involve information beyond the score.^[2][5]