Major credit card issuers, including Capital One, Discover, Chase, American Express, and Citi, commonly use the FICO Score 8 model to evaluate creditworthiness for new accounts. This version is widely utilized because 90% of top lenders rely on FICO scores for credit decisions.
There are several credit scoring models out there, but FICO Score 8 is commonly used by lenders to determine your eligibility for credit and better understand your creditworthiness.
Lenders widely use FICO 8 and FICO 9 to make loan decisions. However, certain industries and financial institutions aren't obligated to do so, so some lender scoring models may differ. Following responsible borrowing habits may benefit your credit score across models.
FICO® Scores are used by 90% of top lenders. There are lots of "credit scores" offered to consumers, so it's important to understand which score you're getting and how much it is used, or not used, by lenders – and it's more important than ever to make sure you know your FICO® Scores.
Credit score calculated based on the FICO® Score 8 model and is provided for educational purposes. American Express and other lenders may use a different FICO® Score version than FICO® Score 8, or another type of credit score altogether, and other information to make credit decisions.
The result is that there are multiple FICO Score versions available, in addition to the most widely used version, FICO Score 8.
Key Takeaways
Your FICO® Score and Key Factors were provided to Citi as they correspond to information within your Equifax credit report based on the calculation date (i.e., “as of” date). If you feel this information is inaccurate, you can request a free annual credit report from Equifax at www.annualcreditreport.com.
Many factors impact your FICO score including how much credit you use, how long you've had credit, the type of credit accounts, and how many hard inquiries you have on your credit report. Managing these factors responsibly can contribute to an improved FICO score over time.
The majority of credit providers appear to use a single credit bureau and most often that bureau is Equifax. The ACCC also found that even where the large credit providers contract with multiple bureaux, some see Equifax as the primary bureau and utilise Experian and illion as a secondary data source.
FICO offers many types of FICO® Scores to auto lenders. Some of the models that your lender might use include: FICO® Score 8 or 9: These are older generic FICO scoring models, meaning they weren't created for a specific type of lender. However, many lenders still use them, including some auto lenders.
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.
Credit score is certainly not the only factor at play when lenders look at mortgage applications, but generally, a higher score will allow you to secure a lower mortgage rate. Typically, conventional lenders want to see a score of at least 620.
It's partly true: most negative items like late payments and collections are removed from your credit report after about seven years, but the underlying debt often still exists, and bankruptcies (Chapter 7) last 10 years, so your credit isn't entirely "clear" but mostly refreshed from old negatives. The 7-year clock starts from the date of the original delinquency, not when you paid it off or sent to collections, and the debt itself can still be pursued by collectors.
FICO 8 is one particular scoring system based off of your credit report, and probably the most commonly used score for credit card applications.
AmEx almost exclusively uses Experian FICO 8 . There isn't a set number for score, since it's dependent on a lot of factors.
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