Credit score needed for the Citi Simplicity Card
Very poor: 300 to 579. Fair: 580 to 669. Good: 670 to 739.
Citibank mainly uses Experian to assess your creditworthiness when you apply for a credit card, though they may use TransUnion or Equifax instead, according to anecdotal evidence. So, if any of your credit reports are frozen, you should unfreeze them before applying for a Citibank credit card.
Key takeaways. In most cases, the highest credit score is 850, though a couple of FICO score models go up to 900. One person can have several credit scores, since FICO, VantageScore and others each have different scoring systems with different weightings.
According to FICO, the FICO Bankcard Score 8 is a score version commonly used by credit card issuers when you apply for a new credit card.
Though the FICO® Score 9 is an updated version of FICO® Score 8, the FICO® Score 8 is still the most widely used base score by lenders, meaning that, while you may have a better credit score from the FICO® Score 9 model, lenders are more likely to still use the previous version.
Who uses FICO score 9? FICO Score 9 is used by many lenders to determine a borrower's creditworthiness. This includes financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, and other types of lenders such as auto loan providers and credit card issuers.
Even better, just over 1 in 5 people (21.2%) have an exceptional FICO credit score of 800 or above, all but guaranteeing access to the best products and interest rates.
Versions 8 and 9 of FICO scores are similar, but FICO score 9 is generally considered the more forgiving of the two for a few reasons: With FICO 9, third-party collections no longer hurt your credit score once those debts are paid off. FICO 9 treats medical collections differently than other types of debt.
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.
The FICO® Score Citi provides is based on information from your Equifax credit report based on the “as of” date included with your score. This may differ from scores you obtain elsewhere that may have been calculated at a different time using information from a different credit bureau or even a different score model.
The Citi Secured Mastercard could be the easiest card to get, since it's one of Citi's only cards for credit-builders and people with a limited credit history.
This Citi prequalification tool performs a “soft inquiry” on your credit report. This won't negatively affect your credit. However, if you move forward with applying for a new card, your credit report will be hit with a “hard inquiry” that may cause your credit score to temporarily drop.
Your credit reports from Experian, TransUnion and Equifax could have different information because creditors can choose which bureau(s) they want to report to, as well as what they report and when. As a result, the same scoring model could give you different credit scores based on each of your three credit reports.
To get approved for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi you'll typically need a FICO® score of 800 or higher. This cash-back card doesn't have an annual fee, but you'll need a Costco membership to apply.
The credit score used in mortgage applications
While the FICO® 8 model is the most widely used scoring model for general lending decisions, banks use the following FICO scores when you apply for a mortgage: FICO® Score 2 (Experian) FICO® Score 5 (Equifax) FICO® Score 4 (TransUnion)
FICO scores are generally known to be the most widely used by lenders. But the credit-scoring model used may vary by lender. While FICO Score 8 is the most common, mortgage lenders might use FICO Score 2, 4 or 5. Auto lenders often use one of the FICO Auto Scores.
The average FICO credit score in the US is 717, according to the latest FICO data. The average VantageScore is 701 as of January 2024.
While older models of credit scores used to go as high as 900, you can no longer achieve a 900 credit score. The highest score you can receive today is 850. Anything above 800 is considered an excellent credit score.
South Burlington, Vt., is the city with the highest credit score, while Detroit is the city with the lowest, according to personal finance site WalletHub.
Credit scores from the three main bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) are considered accurate. The accuracy of the scores depends on the accuracy of the information provided to them by lenders and creditors. You can check your credit report to ensure the information is accurate.
Your FICO score is a representation of your credit worthiness. FICO offers specific products and solutions for car dealers and auto loans. Their product is called Auto Score 8. As you can see here from FICO's promotional materials, Auto Score 8 is meant to help dealers, “Improve accuracy and speed of decision making.
FICO® Score 9 from Experian®
Simple access via Wells Fargo Online, to help you know where you stand.