 TITLE: How Do I Get My Real FICO Score? CONTENT: What Is a FICO® Score?\n----------------------\nA FICO® Score is a credit score that's developed and offered by FICO®. The company, originally named Fair Isaac Corporation, released its first credit bureau-based credit score in the 1980s. Since then, FICO® has created different types of credit scores and released new versions of its scores that have updated how calculations are made.\nFor example, FICO® offers base FICO® Scores, such as FICO® Score 8, FICO® Score 9 and, its latest, FICO® Score 10. These are general-use scores designed for use by multiple types of lenders for a wide range of credit products. FICO® also publishes industry-specific credit scores, such as the FICO® Auto Score for auto lenders and FICO® Bankcard Score for use by credit card issuers.\nThe base scores range from 300 to 850, while industry-specific scores range from 250 to 900. Both types of scores are intended to predict the same thing: the likelihood that someone will be 90 days late on a payment within 24 months. FICO® does this by analyzing the information within your consumer credit reports from either Experian, TransUnion or Equifax.\nFICO® builds different scoring models to align with how each bureau stores your information. Earlier versions of FICO® Scores even had different names based on the bureau, including the models that are still commonly used for mortgage underwriting:\n*   Experian\/Fair Isaac Risk Model v2 (FICO® Score 2)\n*   Equifax Beacon 5.0 (FICO® Score 5)\n*   TransUnion FICO® Risk Score 04 (FICO® Score 4)\nSince the release of FICO® Score 8, each new base model has used the same version number across all three bureaus, but the models are still customized with the bureau in mind. VantageScore®, another credit scoring company, uses a tri-bureau model that scores credit reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion using the same methods.\nFICO® and VantageScore credit scores are the most widely used credit scores, but other credit scoring companies are out there. For example, large creditors may use custom-built credit scores to help them evaluate new and current customers, and companies may publish educational credit scores for their customers to refer to. Educational scores may accurately assess your creditworthiness, but they shouldn't be relied on when making a decision to apply for credit since they can differ significantly from the scores used by lenders. END