Understanding Your FICO Score Sample - FICO Standard

FICO® Standard

FICO® Standard lets you choose individual credit scores and reports from TransUnion and Equifax. FICO® Standard may be right for you if:

  • You’ve already purchased one or two credit scores in the last three months.
  • You’re about to rent an apartment, buy a cell phone or make a similar purchase.
Equifax, TransUnion

Instant Online Access

$15.95 Buy Now

Learn more


FICO® Report –

March 16, 2010 John Smith FICO® score: 707

FICO® Score Simulator Printable Version

Understanding Your FICO® Score

What’s hurting your FICO® score

The negative factors listed here are reasons why your FICO® score is not higher. You should focus on changing the behavior that caused these negative factors. These factors are listed in order of their impact to your score – the first has the greatest negative impact and the last has the least.

  1. You have a public record and a serious delinquency on your credit report.

    Number of your accounts that were ever 60 days late or worse:
    5
    Very few FICO® High Achievers [?], about 1%, have a 60 days late payment or worse listed on their credit report.
    Number of public records on your credit report
    1 Record
    Virtually no FICO® High Achievers [?] have a public record listed on their credit report.

    The presence of a public record [?] (such as a bankruptcy or tax lien) and a serious delinquency are powerful predictors of future payment risk. If the public record is valid, satisfying the public record will not remove it from your credit report. The fact that it occurred is still predictive of future payment risk and will be considered by your FICO® score. However as these items age and fall off of your credit report, their impact on your score will gradually decrease. Most public records and delinquencies stay on your report for no more than seven years - though there are certain items that could remain longer.

  2. You have multiple accounts showing missed payments or derogatory descriptions.

    Number of your accounts with a missed payment or a derogatory description
    5 accounts
    About 93% of FICO® High Achievers [?] have no missed payments at all. But of those who do have a missed payment, it happened nearly 4 years ago, on average.

    Your FICO® score takes into account missed and late payments in a few ways. These include the number of late payments, how late they were and how recently they occurred. Your score was hurt because your credit report shows multiple accounts with missed payments or derogatory descriptions [?].

    What to do about this: If the late payments on your credit report are valid, you should focus on continually paying all your bills on time. This will demonstrate a good payment history and these late payments will have less of a negative impact on your score as time passes.

  3. The balances on your non-mortgage credit accounts are too high.

    Total amount you owe on all non-mortgage accounts
    $2395
    FICO® High Achievers [?] have an average total balance of $5000 on non-mortgage accounts.

    Your FICO® score considers how much you owe on your credit accounts, such as revolving credit accounts [?] and non-mortgage installment loans [?]. Generally, the more you owe on these accounts, the greater risk you pose to lenders.

    What to do about this: You should try to pay off your current debts and maintain low balances. However, consolidating or moving your debt from one account to another will usually not help your FICO® score since the same total amount is owed.

What’s helping your FICO® score

The positive factors listed here reflect areas of your credit behavior that are helping your FICO® score. You should continue the good practices listed here. These factors are listed in order of their impact to your score – the first has the greatest positive impact and the last has the least.

  1. You have an established credit history.

    Your oldest account was opened
    14 years ago
    FICO® High Achievers [?] opened their oldest account 19 years ago, on average.
    Average age of your accounts
    7 years
    Most FICO® High Achievers [?] have an average age of accounts between 6 and 12 years.

    Your FICO® score measures the age of your oldest account and the average age of your accounts. Your FICO® score was helped because you have a relatively long credit history and you haven't recently opened many new accounts.

  2. You have an established revolving credit history.

    Your first revolving account was opened
    14 years ago
    FICO® High Achievers [?] opened their first revolving account 19 years ago, on average.

    Your FICO® score measures when you opened your first revolving account [?] (such as a credit card). Your FICO® score was helped because you have a relatively long credit history.

  3. You currently have a good number of credit accounts.

    Number of your credit accounts in good standing
    5 account
    FICO® High Achievers [?] have an average of 12 accounts in good standing.

    Your FICO® score takes into account the number of accounts (such as credit cards or installment loans) on your credit report. You have a moderate number of accounts. in general, people with a moderate number of accounts are less risky to lenders than people who have very few accounts or a large number of accounts.

FICO® High Achievers

FICO® High Achievers are people who have a FICO® score of 760 or higher. You can compare how you are doing with the FICO® High Achievers to find areas that you can work on.

Collection

A collection is reported on you when a creditor turns over any account that you have not repaid to a collection agency. One collection can hurt your FICO® score and several collections can severely hurt your FICO® score.

Public records

A public record is a legal record reported on you, usually by a court of law. Public records can include bankruptcies, foreclosures, garnishments, and tax liens.

Derogatory descriptions

A negative description the lender has associated with an account that states that you have not been paying the loan as agreed. Derogatory descriptions are often the result of missed payments.

Credit cards

Credit cards include charge cards issued from national banks such as Visa and MasterCard. Other types of credit cards include charge cards issued by department stores or other credit issuers.

Installment loan

A loan requiring regular payments (usually monthly) over an arranged period of time. Examples of installment loans include auto loans and student loans.

Revolving

An account where you can use credit up to your credit limit. You can continue to use your available credit without having to reapply with the lender. Examples of revolving credit accounts include credit cards and lines of credit.