Credit Articles

The word FAKO refers to any credit score that doesn’t use the proprietary FICO scoring method. All of the credit reporting agencies have created their own scoring systems. In addition to their own scoring methods, the 3 credit agencies got together and created a shared credit scoring system called VantageScore to compete with FICO.

The FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) Score is your credit report distilled down to a single number. The intent is to predict your credit worthiness based solely on the information contained in your credit reports. FICO takes your credit report from each of the 3 credit reporting agencies, runs it through their proprietary formula, and generates a credit score with a range from 300 to 850.

This week a local Austin woman was surprised to be told she was dead. Ms. McGill went to buy a travel trailer and applied for financing. The lender declined her application and informed her that she didn’t qualify for financing because she was dead (at least the credit agencies all had her listed as deceased).

Yes, it’s true. Banks have started testing to see if they can charge you a fee every month you use your debit card. This change follows a recent ruling by the Federal Reserve concerning the swipe fee – the fee banks charge retailers each time you make a purchase with your debit card.

The S&P/Experian consumer credit card default rate for July 2011 was 5.64%. This is a modest improvement of .93% from June’s credit default rate of 5.69%. The July year-over-year credit default rate improved by a staggering 31.17%.

Improving your credit score is easier than you think. Follow these 5 tips to fix a bad credit score, or make your good score even better.

The FICO credit score is on a scale from 300 to 850. The scale is divided up into ranges from bad to excellent. A good credit score ranges from 660 to 725.