FICO Score Vs. Plus Score

FICO and PLUS scores are two standards credit bureaus use to measure your creditworthiness. Financial institutions, lenders and creditors provide information about your bill and debt payments, and the bureaus compile the information into a score.

Function

Your credit score is one of the most important factors lenders consider in deciding whether to extend you a loan or line of credit. Your credit score also is key in determining your interest rate.

Factors

Your FICO and PLUS scores are calculated from your payment history, length of credit, how much you have borrowed, how much credit you've applied for and what types of credit you have used.

Identification

The Fair Isaac Corp. developed the algorithm for the FICO score. PLUS--plan, live, understand, succeed--was developed as an alternative to FICO for the Experian credit bureau.

Significance

The FICO score is the more common of the two, as it is used by all three credit bureaus.

Range

Your PLUS score will be between 330 and 830, while your FICO score will range from 350 to 850. Lenders usually offer the best terms to people with FICO credit scores above 720. They rarely base lending decisions on the PLUS score.

References

• FICO Credit Basics
• Experian scoring
• How credit scores are calculated