Expanded Credit Score

FICO score coverage is expanding

Although FICO score has been used for the last 30 years, estimated 50 millions of U.S. consumers have been unable to obtain credit since they do not have documented credit histories adequate for calculating classic FICO credit scores. That is about to change.

Fair Isaac, the nation's pioneer of credit scoring, is extending its FICO score to cover an expanding base of the US population. Especially, recent immigrants, people with lower incomes, and young adults will be benefited with this new model. Fair Isaac has developed a new network of non-traditional credit data to determine credit scores for these individuals, who in the past have been denied opportunities due to not having a "traditional" credit history.

Predictive information considered in the formulation of this score includes payment performance data on financial activities such as deposit accounts, pay-day loans and product purchase payment plans and rent payments. Until recently, such information has not been consistently maintained or accessible for commercial risk scoring.