Who is FICO?

FICO (The Fair Isaac Corporation) is a data analytics company focused on credit rating services.

Scores range from 300-850 and are calculated based on 5 components. They are: 35% payment history, 30% amounts owed, 15% length of credit, 10% mixed credit, and 10% new credit/inquiries. This information is provided by three credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion.

FICO also makes new versions of the score models to keep pace with changing consumer credit behaviors. They release these new versions to the market and each lender then determines if and when it will upgrade to the score. Some lenders migrate relatively quickly, while others can take a while to make the upgrade. As a result, there are lenders currently using different FICO® Score versions.

Currently, FICO 8 is the most widely used.