How will FICO Score 9 impact credit scoring? Not as much as you may think!

FICO’s recent release of its FICO SCORE 9 model caused a buzz of conversation among financial circles and even news media.  There are plenty of questions and concerns by consumers and headlines in the traditional news media.  But most people still don’t understand FICO 9 or what kind of impact it will have on credit scoring. 

The following is a combination of data from several sources, but especially ficoforums.myfico.com.

Different banks and lenders use FICO in different ways.  Many of them still use FICO 04 Classic, an older but more widespread scoring model, while others have integrated FICO 08 Classic, the latest version before FICO 9 was released.  This chart shows the 49 different FICO scores along with their corresponding Credit Reporting Agency (CRA) and the version of FICO they most prominently use.  Additionally, it lists the approximate range of credit scores per that specific FICO. 

In summary, it seems that the FICO scores that really matter are still FICO 04 and FICO 08.  FICO Score 9 is expected to shake up the status quo but mostly in the way that collections are differentiated, particularly medical collections.  However, FICO Score 9 will take time to integrate – some expect even a couple years – and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren’t using it to date.  To consumers, realtors, lenders, and mortgage professionals, this means that not much has changed at all.

Please contact us if you have any questions about FICO Score 9 or how to keep a great credit score or make it even better.