Is The Score You Received The FICO Score?

Recently, more consumers are confused with the score they received when ordered online, especially on annualcreditreport.com. When consumers check their annual free credit report, many also order a credit score sine they believe it's a good idea to invest $5.00 to check their Fico score. However, in many cases, what they receive is not a Fico score but a VantageScore, developed jointly by three credit bureaus.

In March 2006, the nation's three leading consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - jointly launched their own proprietary credit scoring system, called VantageScore.

When you order your credit score from Experian or TransUnion, you receive a VantageScore instead of a FICO scores, which is used by most lenders.

Different Scores, Different Score Ranges

Fico scores and VantageScores two have different scales. There's a big difference in interepreting the two scores.

Fico scores range from 300 to 850, with scores above 720 being considere excellent.

On the other hand, VantageScores range from 501 to 990, and approximate the letter-grade system used in most schools. That means a score of 901 to 990 is an A, while a score of 801 to 900 is a B, 701 to 800 is a C, 601 to 700 is a D and 501 to 600 is an F.