If you don’t understand how your credit score works, you will also be at the mercy of any firm that tries to tell you how you can improve your score – on their conditions and at their price. In general, your credit score is a number that lets lenders know how much of a credit liability you are. The credit score is a number, commonly between 300 and 850, that lets lenders know how well you are paying off your debts and how much of a credit risk you are.
In general, the greater your credit score, the better credit risk you make and the more probable you are to be given credit at excellent rates. Scores in the low 600s and below will often give you probelms in finding credit, while scores of 720 and above will normally give you the best interest rates out there. Nevertheless, credit scores are a lot similar to GPAs or SAT scores from college days – while they give others a quick image of how you are doing, they are explained by people in different ways.
Some lenders put greater significance on credit scores than others. Some lenders will work with you if you have credit scores in the 600s, while others give their best rates only to those creditors with very high scores indeed.Some lenders will look at your complete credit report while others will accept or reject your loan application based purely on your credit score.
The credit score is derived on your credit report, which consist’s of a history of your past debts and repayments. Credit agencies use computers and mathematical calculations to arrive at a credit score from the information enclosed in your credit report. Each credit agency uses separate solutions to do this (which is why you will have different scores with different companies) but most credit bureaus use the FICO system. FICO is an acronym for the credit score calculating software offered by Fair Isaac Corporation company. This is by far the most used software since the Fair Isaac Corporation made the credit score model used by many in the financial industry and is still acknowledged, one of the leaders in the field. In fact, credit scores are frequently called FICO scores or FICO ratings, although it is important to realize that your score may be tabulated using other software.
One other thing you may want to understand about the software and mathematics that goes into your credit score is the fact that the math used by the software is based on research and approximate mathematics. This is an important and easy concept that can help you understand how to improve your credit score. In understandable terms, what this means is that your credit score is in a way calculated on the same principles as your insurance premiums. Your insurance company likely asks you questions about your health, your lifestyle habits (such as whether you are a smoker) because these bits of information can let the insurance company know, how much of a risk you are and how likely you are to make substantial claims, later on. This is based on research. Continue reading ‘Where do credit scores come from ?’ »