What Is A Good Credit Score

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FICO uses the information in your credit report to calculate your credit score. There is no standard model on what is considered to be a good or bad FICO score. This question really depends on your lender and how they rate individual scores. However, we can make some generalizations about FICO scores that range up to 850 and what score may be considered to be good, fair and bad.


750 or higher - This is considered to be an excellent credit score. At 770 and above you can generally obtain the best interest rates.

700 to 750 - This is considered to be between very good and excellent credit.

650 to 700 - Considered to be very good credit.

600 to 650 - A good credit score. Sometimes the minimum for good credit is at 620 or above, because this is generally considered the cutoff point for a prime rate loan.

600 and below - This range is considered a high credit risk. While you can still obtain loans and credit cards in this range, they will most likely be secured credit cards and loans at the highest interest rate.

550 and below - Any FICO score below 550 is considered to be awful credit.

The Vantage scoring system is the second type developed recently by the 3 major credit bureaus. Vantage Score is a new scoring technique, the first one that the credit reporting companies developed collaboratively. This model may allow for a more predictive score for consumers, even for those with limited credit histories, reducing the need for creditors to manually review credit information. Vantage Score features a common score range of 501 through 990, with higher scores representing a lower risk. Anything above 900 is considered "A Credit", 800 to 900 "B Credit", 700 to 800 "C Credit" and so on. A key benefit of Vantage Score is that as long as the credit reporting companies have the same information about your credit history, you will receive the same score from each of them. A different score alerts you that there are discrepancies in your report.