Over the past ten years, there has been another alternative that has come out of the weeds for credit providers and lenders to check the creditworthiness of consumers. That alternative is known as VantageScore.
VantageScore was born thanks to three major credit bureaus who decided they wanted to create their own proprietary model as an alternative to the popular FICO score.
While a number of credit users are starting to see the VantageScore pop up, not all people know how it differs from the FICO score. To make sure you have an understanding of these two scores, we’re here to help.
Understanding the Difference Between FICO and VantageScore
Three companies banded together to create the VantageScore model, including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. The new VantageScore model allows these major credit bureaus to calculate the same score.
For institutions like banks and other lenders, this model makes it much easier to determine the creditworthiness of a borrower with a single, common score.
If you know your FICO score, though have recently requested a credit score from Experian, Equifax, or TransUnion, you may have received a score that you didn’t recognize. Shopping around for auto loans or mortgages can be quite difficult, as there are variations between scores.
The beauty of the VantageScore system is that you get the same score, which is verified by all three of the major credit bureaus.
How Do They Calculate These Scores?
The VantageScore mirrors the FICO score in many ways, as both of these scores will give a consumer a rating between 300 and 850. However, the difference is in how they calculate these scores.
The VantageScore model takes the borrower’s account balances, available credit, and history of on-time payments into account to come up with a score.
The FICO score, on the other hand, has a few other factors that it bases its score on, including the mixture of account types, credit utilization, and how new the issued credit is.
Which Score Do Lenders Prefer?
A lender that is preparing mortgages for borrowers will primarily use the FICO score to determine whether or not a potential homeowner is creditworthy. VantageScore is not often used in home loan applications, though it can be used to turn on your utilities when you move into a new home or rent a property.
Landlords will often pull credit reports using VantageScore.
A credit card company might look at either your FICO score or VantageScore.The VantageScore is a bit more relevant to credit card companies, though, so they will typically fall to the side of the VantageScore.
Increasing My Numbers On Either Credit Score
Here at Boost Credit 101, we offer borrowers potential ways to increase their credit scores quickly and painlessly. With a team of professionals at your service, we can teach you everything you need to know about authorized user tradelines and whether or not they make sense for your current financial situation.
We look forward to helping you reach your financial goals!
