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Working to improve your credit score can make you more attractive to lenders, but which credit score is most accurate? The truth is that they’re all accurate, in their own way. Read on to discover the differences between credit scoring models, then use LifeLock Ultimate Plus to monitor your credit and help protect against fraud.
A credit score is a number that represents your creditworthiness, or how likely lenders are to trust your ability to manage debt. Your credit score affects your chances of success when applying for a new credit card, loan, or mortgage. It’s even considered by some landlords or employers when assessing your financial responsibility.
There isn’t just one type of credit score; there are various credit scoring models that lenders use to evaluate your creditworthiness. Here’s everything you need to know about the different credit scores.
There’s no single most accurate or universally important credit score. Different scoring models use many of the same factors, such as payment history and credit utilization, but they weigh them differently and often use distinct scoring ranges. That’s why your score can vary by provider.
That said, FICO Score and VantageScore are the two most commonly used credit scores by lenders assessing loan approvals, credit cards, and mortgages. So, in that sense, you could consider them the most accurate indicators of how likely you are to be approved for a new credit application.
Your scores are different because there are many models for calculating credit scores, and each uses a unique formula to evaluate your creditworthiness.
Here are some of the key variables that explain why your credit scores are different:
The modern credit scoring system arguably began when the FICO score was created in 1989. Today, though, there are many different types of credit scores, each one using slightly different methods to assess creditworthiness. These are some of the most commonly used:
The FICO Score is one of the most popular credit scoring systems, used by 90% of top lenders. It grades creditworthiness on a three-digit scale, with scores falling between 300 and 850. A higher FICO Score is better, meaning you’re more likely to be approved for credit or loan applications and benefit from lower interest rates.
It was developed in 1989 by a tech firm called Fair, Isaac, and Company (FICO) to establish an industry standard. Despite being over 35 years old, it’s still used by credit bureaus like Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to guide billions of lending decisions each year.
The FICO scoring model uses five factors when calculating credit scores. Here’s a summary of the factors and how they’re weighted:
What’s a good FICO credit score?
Individual lenders will interpret your FICO Score differently, but a score between 670 and 739 is deemed “Good” by FICO. A score between 740 and 799 puts you in the “Very Good” category, while a score of 800+ means your creditworthiness is considered “Exceptional.”
VantageScore is a credit scoring system developed in 2006 through collaboration between the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. It grades creditworthiness on the same scale as the FICO model, with scores falling between 300 and 850. Within that range, VantageScore defines four “tiers” named subprime, near prime, prime, and superprime.
Just like the FICO Score model, VantageScore is widely used in the US. More than 34,000 institutions, including eight of the top ten largest banks, use it to guide their lending decisions.
The latest VantageScore model, called VantageScore 4.0, considers six factors in its credit score calculations. Here’s a summary of the factors and how they’re weighted:
What’s a good VantageScore credit score?
It’s up to specific lenders to decide what constitutes a “good” VantageScore, depending on the type of credit application you’re making. However, scores in the prime (661-780) or superprime (781-850) range are generally seen as good.
While the FICO Score and VantageScore are the most popular credit scoring models, they’re not the only ones. These are four other well-known credit scores used by lenders to calculate creditworthiness:
No single credit bureau is the most accurate. Just like credit scores themselves, each credit bureau is slightly different, with each maintaining its own dataset based on the information it receives from lenders. Since not all lenders report to all three, your credit report can vary between bureaus.
That’s why you might see slight inconsistencies in your credit reports. Each bureau may have a different snapshot of your financial activity, depending on who reports to them and how that data is processed. Instead of focusing on which bureau is “right,” it’s smarter to monitor your credit across all three to get a fuller, more accurate picture of your credit health.
You can access your credit report and check your credit score in several ways. Just make sure you’re using soft inquiries, not hard inquiries. Soft checks don’t affect your credit score, while hard inquiries (like those from loan applications) can temporarily lower it.
These are some of the easiest ways to check your credit score and get a credit report:
All of these methods are considered soft credit checks, so you don’t have to worry about your credit score decreasing when you use them to check your credit.
Worrying about which credit score is most important is less useful than working on improving your credit score. That includes protecting it from the damaging effects of fraudulent activity, like someone stealing your identity and opening new credit accounts in your name.
Beyond offering an easy way to stay on top of your credit score, with credit reports available daily from one bureau, LifeLock Ultimate Plus also provides credit monitoring coverage. We monitor key changes to your credit file at the three leading credit bureaus and alert you if we notice suspicious activity, so you can tackle fraud quicker and keep your credit healthier.
There is no single “actual” credit score; each credit scoring model uses slightly different criteria and formulas to create their own unique credit score. All of them are legitimate, and lenders may choose to use different credit scoring models depending on their preferences.
Lenders vary in how they assess creditworthiness, and some use multiple scores in their decision-making. However, generally speaking, FICO Score and VantageScore are the two credit scores most likely to be used by lenders. FICO Score is particularly popular, used by up to 90% of top lenders in the U.S.
The biggest threats to a credit score include late or missed payments, high credit utilization, and excessive hard inquiries. However, the exact impact depends on the scoring model, as each weighs negative factors differently.
Editor’s note: Our articles provide educational information. LifeLock offerings may not cover or protect against every type of crime, fraud, or threat we write about.
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