Credit Score Types and Score Ranges
When we talk about credit score, we usually refer to the FICO score developed by Fair Isaac. FICO score, which can be purchased at myFICO, is widely used by lenders to evaluate a borrower’s credit worthiness when he/she applies for a credit card, open a bank account, or even rent an apartment.
However, FICO score isn’t the only credit score available. If you are buying a score from one of the credit reporting agencies or getting one through a free service, chances are the score is a FAKO one. For example, the free credit score offered by Credit Karma is TransUnion’s TransRisk score, not a FICO score. So what are other different scores and what are their ranges, as compared to FICO’s 300 and 850? Following are a few FAKO scores I have used in the past.
TransUnion TransRisk Score
TransRisk is a consumer credit score that’s developed by TransUnion, one of the three credit bureaus. TransRisk score simulates FICO score, but it isn’t a FICO score. The score has a range from 300 to 850, the same as the range of the FICO score. You can get TransRisk score for free from Credit Karma. It’s also available for free when you enroll in TrueCredit credit monitoring service from TransUnion. The cost is $14.95 per month.
Experian Score PLUS
Early this year, Experian decided to pull out its agreement with Fair Isaac and stop providing FICO score to its customers. Right now, one of the scores you can get from Experian is its own Score PLUS (last month Score PLUS was offered for free for AMEX cardholders). Score PLUS has a score range from 330 to 830, a little tighter than FICO score’s range. The score is included in the Experian’s Triple Advantage service ($14.95 per month).
VantageScore
VantageScore is jointly developed by TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax as an alternative of the FICO score. VantageScore ranges from 501 to 990, even though it uses the same underlying credit information as FICO score, and the score is divided into five grades, from “A” to “F” which “A” being the best. VantageScore is available from TransUnion and Experian.
Any other FACO scores out there that I am not aware of?
photo credit: TheTruthAbout…
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Pingback by Quizzle Review: Free Credit Score And Free Credit Report on October 17, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Just wanted to point out a typo in your post title. It should be “Ranges” not “Rages”. When I first saw the title, I figured you were going to talk about someone who went into “score rage” when they saw their score (kinda like road rage)
How about Equifax? Article does not have Equifax’s products.
Equifax uses the FICO scoring model.
@Susan Thanks for pointing out the typo. Apparently I ignored the title when doing spelling check
@noname As far as I know, Equifax gives FICO score in all its products. I don’t know whether it has its own score like others or not and I searched quite a lot, but didn’t find any mention of Equifax’s own credit score.