Score Power® Overview
Score Power® provides you with your FICO® credit score, personalized score analysis, access to the FICO® Score Simulator, and your Equifax Credit Report™.
Select any of the following topics to learn more about Score Power®:
- About Your FICO® Score
- Why Lenders Use Scores
- How to Read Your Score
- FICO® Score Ranges
- Printable Version
- FICO® Score Simulator
- Equifax Credit Report™
- Learn more about Score Power® in Score Power® How To and Score Power® FAQS
About Your FICO® Score
The FICO® score, developed by Fair Isaac, the pioneer in credit scoring, is a number between 300 and 850 that lenders use to determine your credit risk.
Your score is calculated using a mathematical equation that evaluates the information in your credit file and compares it to patterns in millions of other credit files. The score can then help to identify your level of credit risk. The higher your credit score the more likely you are to be approved for loans and receive favorable rates.
More than 70% of the 100 largest financial institutions use FICO® scores to make billions of credit decisions each year, including more than 75% of mortgage loan originations. Equifax and Fair Isaac demystified credit scores by being the first to provide consumers access to their FICO® credit score.
Why Lenders Use Scores
Typically, lenders want to see how you have managed your credit obligations in the past to help them determine if they should approve your request for credit now, and to help them determine the terms of that credit.
A FICO® score is a valuable guide to future risk based solely on credit file data. The higher the score, the lower the risk to lenders when extending new credit to a consumer. The score is an objective measurement of your credit risk at a particular point in time.
Lenders may also evaluate other types of information -- such as data you provide on the credit application (for example, income, how long you have lived at your residence, other banking relationships you may have) in their loan evaluation process.
How to Read Your Score
Your FICO® score is divided into the following sections:
Summary
The 'Summary' page shows your actual score as of the date it was generated, along with a description of what your score means. More detailed explanations of what your score means to you are available in the following sections.
Top Positive Factors
The positive factors listed in this section reflect areas of your credit behavior that are better than average, translating into a higher FICO® score. Continuing to manage your credit this way will help to increase your FICO® score over time. These factors are provided in order of impact -- the first listed has affected your FICO® score most positively and so on.
Top Negative Factors
If your score is high, these reasons may seem picky and you should not consider them to be serious flaws in your credit history. They are simply factors on which you did not score the absolute maximum possible points and have some room for improvement. If your score is low, these factors can help you to understand how to better manage your credit.
How Lenders See You
A majority of lenders use FICO® scores as one method to estimate an applicant's credit risk. People with high FICO® scores are likely to repay loans and credit cards more consistently than people with low FICO® scores. Although FICO® scores are remarkably predictive, no one can predict with certainty whether or not an applicant will repay a credit account.
FICO® Score Ranges
FICO® scores can range from 300 to 850, but the majority of scores usually fall within the 600s and 700s. Since there is no one universal score cutoff used by all lenders, it is hard to say what a good score is outside the context of a particular lending decision. For example, a score of 750 may qualify you for a platinum credit card, whereas a score of 675 may indicate you are a better match for a standard card.
Your lender may be able to give you guidance on the criteria that it uses for a specific credit product. Based on the general population's FICO® scores, the ranges and percentages of scores are:
- 20% are above 780
- 20% are in the range of 745 - 780
- 20% are in the range of 690 - 745
- 20% are in the range of 620 - 690
- 20% are below 619
While many lenders use FICO® scores to help them make lending decisions, each lender has its own strategy, including the level of risk it finds acceptable for a specific credit product.
Printable Version
For your convenience, your FICO® score is available in a printer-friendly format. Simply select 'Printable Version' in the upper right side of the FICO® score page.
FICO® Score Simulator
The FICO® Score Simulator is a powerful tool to help you determine how actions can affect your FICO® score -- both for better and worse. There are two options for simulating how certain actions might affect your FICO® score:
Suggested Best Action
Assuming that all accounts and account balances remain the same, this option helps you determine which action may have the biggest impact on your FICO® score.
Choose Your Own Action
This option presents several possible actions for you to choose from, and then simulates how taking that action might affect your FICO® score. Keep in mind that the results of different simulations are not necessarily cumulative. In other words, taking two separate actions, each of which could raise your FICO® score 20 points, does not necessarily mean that your FICO® score will go up 40 points.
Equifax Credit Report™
When you purchase Score Power®, you receive access to your Equifax Credit Report™ at no extra charge. It reflects the information in your credit file as of the date you purchase the product and is available to review for a full 30 days. To learn more about your Equifax Credit Report™, click here.
