FICO Score Scale

FICO scores are used by most financing and credit institutions that measure a person's creditworthiness without the tedious requirement process of looking into the individual's income history and employment status. FICO scores are used by credit card providers and banks to determine his/her credit limits, interest rates and even paying period.

Calculating one's FICO scores is a closely guarded secret, companies consider several factors prior to interpreting one's FICO score. Usually, finance firms and banks take into account as much as five credit accounts that have been in use for at least a year in order to determine one's capacity to be given credit to and his/her ability to pay for loans or credits. Pre-determined weighted factors are then used to calculate one?s FICO scores which are then checked against the given FICO score scale.

A person's calculated FICO score may range on a scale from approximately 300 to 850. The higher one's FICO score is the better his /her standing to avail of loans or credits. The median FICO score is around 720, FICO scores higher than 725 are considered good while those which are below 600 are considered bad. FICO scores that range from 750 to 850 are excellent scores which tells of his/her creditworthiness and would enable the individual to be granted credit or loans almost immediately by finance firms or banks. 660 to 749 are good FICO scores that would entitle the individual to credits or loans with certain conditions and with limits as to the amount of money they can use from these institutions. Fair FICO scores of 620 to 659 are regarded with much consideration since these are not good digits based on the FICO score scale. Poorer scores that range from 350 to 619, may be sufficient for finance firms to deny the applicants credit or loans.

Also, it is not uncommon for an individual to have several FICO scores depending on the credit reporting agency that calculates his/her FICO score. This is because each agency considers different parts of one?s credit history based on the access that they have.