Ficoforum (2024)

FAQs

Does myFICO hurt credit score? ›

No, when you check your own credit it does not hurt your credit score. myFICO is the consumer division of FICO ^®, launched in 2001 to help consumers get their FICO ^® Score directly from the people that make the FICO ^® Score. We have an A+ rating from the BBB and our headquarters are in Bozeman, MT.

A true FICO score ranges between 300–850 and gets calculated using only information in a consumer's credit report maintained by the three main credit bureaus— Experian™, Equifax^® and TransUnion^®. To receive a FICO Score, you must have a credit account at least 6 months old and activity during the past 6 months.

While achieving a CIBIL Score of 900 is technically possible, it is extremely rare. Scores above 760 are considered very good or exceptional, providing significant benefits such as lower interest rates and higher chances of loan approval.

According to FICO, about 98% of “FICO High Achievers” have zero missed payments. And for the small 2% who do, the missed payment happened, on average, approximately four years ago. So while missing a credit card payment can be easy to do, staying on top of your payments is the only way you will one day reach 850.

Experian is a credit reporting agency that also offers consumer credit monitoring products. FICO is a scoring model. A service called myFICO offers similar consumer credit monitoring products to Experian. The two services are similar in their accuracy.

Although a lot of people might like the idea of a perfect credit score, they'd likely have a hard time actually achieving it. In the U.S., only about 1.7 percent of the scorable population had a perfect 850 FICO credit score in April 2023, according to FICO data.

Generally speaking, a good credit score is 690 to 719 in the commonly used 300-850 credit score range. Scores 720 and above are considered excellent, while scores 630 to 689 are considered fair.

For a score with a range between 300 and 850, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good. A score of 800 or above on the same range is considered to be excellent. Most consumers have credit scores that fall between 600 and 750. In 2023, the average FICO^® Score^☉ in the U.S. reached 715.

According to a report by FICO, only 23% of the scorable population has a credit score of 800 or above.

Can I buy a house with a 705 credit score? ›

Home loans

Your credit score might be only one piece of your home mortgage application, but it's among the most critical. With a 705 credit score, you're well above the 620 baseline score needed to qualify for most home loans, but borrowers with a 740 score or higher will typically get a better interest rate.

The average credit score in the United States is 705, based on VantageScore^® data from March 2024. It's a myth that you only have one credit score. In fact, you have many credit scores, because there are many different types of credit scores and scoring models.

And when it comes to credit, 850 is the highest the FICO^® Score^☉ scale goes. For more and more U.S. consumers, practice is making perfect. According to recent Experian data, 1.54% of consumers have a "perfect" FICO^® Score of 850. That's up from 1.31% two years earlier.

A score of 850 can only be achieved with 10+ years of credit, excellent on-time payment history, low credit utilization, and no recent hard inquiries, which is a tall ask. At the very least, you can take these 12 steps to improve your score.

Your 842 FICO® Score is nearly perfect and will be seen as a sign of near-flawless credit management. Your likelihood of defaulting on your bills will be considered extremely low, and you can expect lenders to offer you their best deals, including the lowest-available interest rates.

Checking your credit reports or credit scores will not impact credit scores. Regularly checking your credit reports and credit scores is a good way to ensure information is accurate.

While myFICO is a legitimate service, it offers limited protection against identity theft and fraud. Without digital security tools to combat the threat of identity theft, myFICO is not the robust option you need in 2024.

Checking your credit report won't affect your FICO Scores, as long as you order your credit report directly from the credit reporting agency or through an organization authorized to provide credit reports to consumers, such as myFICO.

Basically, "credit score" and "FICO score" are all referring to the same thing. A FICO score is a type of credit scoring model. While different reporting agencies may weigh factors slightly differently, they are all essentially measuring the same thing.