Discover how you can improve your FICO score to help qualify for a better interest rate and what actions may make your FICO score drop.

Why should you know your credit score?

Because lenders do.  Banks and other lenders check your FICO score when you apply for, and use credit.  Knowing your score puts you one step ahead when you apply for a mortgage, loan or other credit.

See how improving your score can drive interest savings!

Explore national and state average APRs, and calculate how much you can save by taking action to improve your FICO score.

How to get a better score.

Find out how scoring works, and how to improve your score straight from Fair, Isaac, the developers of FICO scores.

For more information or to obtain a copy of your FICO score, visit www.fairisaac.com  The cost is $12.95.  Most if not all lenders use FICO credit scoring system.  See how lenders see you!

How Credit Scoring Helps You

Credit scores give lenders a fast, objective measurement of your credit risk. Before the use of scoring, the credit granting process could be slow, inconsistent and unfairly biased.

Credit scores especially FICO scores, the most widely used credit bureau scores have made big improvements in the credit process. Because of credit scores:

       People can get loans faster.

Scores can be delivered almost instantaneously, helping lenders speed up loan approvals. Today many credit decisions can be made within minutes. Even a mortgage application can be approved in hours instead of weeks for borrowers who score above a lender's "score cutoff." Scoring also allows retail stores, Internet sites and other lenders to make "instant credit" decisions.

       Credit decisions are fairer.

Using credit scoring, lenders can focus only on the facts related to credit risk, rather than their personal feelings. Factors like your gender, race, religion, nationality and marital status are not considered by credit scoring.

       Credit "mistakes" count for less.

If you have had poor credit performance in the past, credit scoring doesn't let that haunt you forever. Past credit problems fade as time passes and as recent good payment patterns show up on your credit report. Unlike so-called "knock out rules" that turn down borrowers based solely on a past problem in their file, credit scoring weighs all of the credit-related information, both good and bad, in your credit report.

       More credit is available.

Lenders who use credit scoring can approve more loans, because credit scoring gives them more precise information on which to base credit decisions. It allows lenders to identify individuals who are likely to perform well in the future, even though their credit report shows past problems. Even people whose scores are lower than a lender's cutoff for "automatic approval" benefit from scoring. Many lenders offer a choice of credit products geared to different risk levels. Most have their own separate guidelines, so if you are turned down by one lender, another may approve your loan. The use of credit scores gives lenders the confidence to offer credit to more people, since they have a better understanding of the risk they are taking on.

       Credit rates are lower overall.

With more credit available, the cost of credit for borrowers decreases. Automated credit processes, including credit scoring, make the credit granting process more efficient and less costly for lenders, who in turn have passed savings on to their customers. And by controlling credit losses using scoring, lenders can make rates lower overall. Mortgage rates are lower in the United States than in Europe, for example, in part because of the information including credit scores available to lenders here. Knowing and improving your score can also lead to more favorable interest rates. Check out an example of the national averages of interest rates and see exactly how much money you might be able to save.

How do interest rates relate to you score?

Lenders use the FICO score as a component in how they set the interest rate they will charge for a loan. Now on myFICO.com, you can see today's average rates by FICO score range and learn how responsible credit management can result in interest rate savings over time. 

The tables below show average annual percentage rates (APR) by FICO score ranges frequently used by lenders. The difference in these rates illustrates how your FICO score helps determine what you will pay for your loan. The actual interest rate for which you qualify may depend on several other important factors in addition to a credit score, such as your income, down payment, debt-to-income ratios, additional credit related evaluations and other lender-specific criteria.