What is the most commonly used credit score?

The FICO Score is the most commonly used credit score among lenders and creditors when assessing an individual's creditworthiness. Developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation, this score ranges from 300 to 850 and is calculated using various factors such as payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit, and types of credit used.

One of the reasons the FICO Score is widely adopted is its long-standing presence in the credit industry, as it was introduced in 1989 and since then has become a standard reference for credit evaluations. Many lenders, including banks, mortgage companies, and credit card issuers, rely on FICO Scores to make decisions regarding loan approvals, interest rates, and credit limits.

While other scoring models exist, such as VantageScore, Credit Karma Score, and the Equifax Score, they do not hold the same prevalence in the lending industry. VantageScore, for instance, was created by the three major credit bureaus and is growing in usage but still tends to be less common than FICO. Credit Karma Score is often used for consumer-facing purposes and gives users an estimate of their credit score using the VantageScore model. Equifax Score is specific to one of the major credit reporting agencies and is not