A good FICO® Score is considered anything above 670. On the VantageScore®side, anything above 700 is considered good credit. FICO® has special, industry-specific scoring ranges for credit cards and auto loans with scores ranging from 250 – 900.
A 2019 third-party market study found that VantageScores are widely used by credit card issuers, and secondly by both installment loan and fintech lenders. According to the study, nine of the 10 largest banks and 29 of the 100 largest credit unions used VantageScore credit scores in one or more lines of business.
While VantageScore and FICO now use the same 300-850 range, VantageScore tiers run about 50 points lower than FICO tiers.
The most accurate credit scores are the latest versions of the FICO Score and VantageScore credit-scoring models: FICO Score 8 and VantageScore 3.0.
Credit Score Range
FICO Scores range from 300 to 850. At first, VantageScore credit scores featured a different numerical scale (501 to 990). However, VantageScore 3.0 and 4.0 adopted the same 300 to 850 scale that FICO uses. With both FICO and VantageScore models, higher scores are better.
This approach yielded a substantial enhancement in scoring accuracy among consumers who cannot obtain scores from traditional scoring models, strengthening VantageScore 4.0's ability to accurately score between 30-35 million more consumers1 (Figure 4).
Credit Karma touts that it will always be free to the consumers who use its website or mobile app. But how accurate is Credit Karma? In some cases, as seen in an example below, Credit Karma may be off by 20 to 25 points.
FICO Score Conversion. There is no official method of converting a VantageScore to a FICO score. Because each scoring uses different criteria and methods of pulling data, it's nearly impossible to convert. However, keeping both scores in mind can give you a much more well-rounded understanding of your credit health.
Credit score and mortgages
The minimum credit score needed for most mortgages is typically around 620.
Like FICO Scores, VantageScore 3.0 and VantageScore 4.0 credit scores range from 300 to 850. That said, good credit for FICO is at least 670, while a credit score of 700 or higher is required to be deemed good under the VantageScore model.
What Is a Good VantageScore? A score from 750 to 850 is considered to be excellent or super prime, while scores between 700 to 749 are considered to be good. Scores between 650 and 699 are viewed as fair, scores in the 550 to 649 range are poor, and 300-549 are very poor scores.
FICO. The primary similarities when comparing CreditWise versus FICO are that both allow you to view your credit score and credit report. But while CreditWise uses the VantageScore, FICO — as its name implies — uses the FICO Score.
The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus. This means a couple of things: The scores we provide are actual credit scores pulled from two of the major consumer credit bureaus, not just estimates of your credit rating.
Which credit scores does Credit Karma offer? The model used for credit scores on Credit Karma is VantageScore® 3.0. While VantageScore® credit scores aren't used as widely as FICO® scores for credit decisions, they can still give you a good idea of where your credit stands.
VantageScore was created by the three major credit reporting agencies—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. It uses similar scoring methods to FICO but yields slightly different results.
Some lenders report to all three major credit bureaus, but others report to only one or two. Because of this difference in reporting, each of the three credit bureaus may have slightly different credit report information for you and you may see different scores as a result.
Your score can then differ based on what bureau your credit report is pulled from since they don't all receive the same information about your credit accounts. Secondly, different credit score models (and versions) exist across the board. As it states on its website, Credit Karma uses the VantageScore® 3.0 model.
Capital One, Chase, OneMain Financial and U.S. Bank provide VantageScore 3.0 to customers, visible when you log in to your account.
Payment History Is the Most Important Factor of Your Credit Score. Payment history accounts for 35% of your FICO® Score.
Services such as CreditWise pull from all relevant major credit bureaus whereas Credit Karma pulls from fewer, thus resulting in the potential for less precise credit score reporting.
FICO 8 is still the most widely used FICO credit score today. If you apply for a credit card or personal loan, odds are that the lender will check your FICO 8 scores from one or more of the major credit bureaus.
The VantageScore model can uniquely improve a mortgage lender's business while increasing responsible access to mortgage credit for consumers. By widening the window without lowering the bar in terms of credit risk standards or pricing standards, lenders can reach more qualified applicants.