Financial Fitness - Calculating your Credit Score

It's time for Financial Fitness, and this week Alan Akina tells us about a new calculation for credit scores.

Good morning, everyone. There's a new kid on the block when it comes to calculating your credit score. It's called VantageScore. VantageScore now directly competes with FICO Score. FICO is a company that has been the standard in generating our credit scores for lenders using data from the big 3 credit reporting bureaus. Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. So what is a VantageScore? Well, it's a joint venture between those 3 credit reporting bureaus to generate your credit score. Now here's the difference. FICO scores run on a scale of 300 all the way to 850, with the higher score being the better. VantageScore starts at 501 up to 990. The 3 bureaus say it's much more intuitive because it breaks down your score like an elementary school report card. For example, A credit is above 900, B credit is 800 to 900, C credit is 700 to 800, D credit is 600 to 700, and F credit is in the 500s. Also, a consumer score is based primarily on a 24-month review of your credit file. The key takeaway here, folks, is to be in the know. You do not want to get confused when you talk to your lender about FICO and VantageScores. This is on the Wake Up Today webpage at khon2.com. I'm Alan Akina. I'll see you on Thursday.