Did you know you have more than one FICO^® Score?

Since FICO^® Scores were introduced to lenders over 25 years ago, they have become the best-known and most widely used credit score. But quite a bit has changed since lenders first started using FICO Scores in 1989. Lender credit-granting requirements, data reporting practices, consumer demand for credit and consumer use of credit have all evolved.

To help lenders make more informed credit-granting decisions, and to help ensure you get access to the credit you need, the FICO^® Score model has been updated periodically over the years. As an example, we use credit much more frequently than we used to. FICO^® Scores have been updated to reflect this change in behavior. If we didn’t, seemingly normal credit usage today would be considered a higher risk than in years past.The result is that there are multiple FICO Score versions available, in addition to the most widely used version, FICO Score 8.

To get the best idea of which credit score your mortgage lender uses, you have to check your score through MyFICO.com, which is a paid service. As you prepare to buy a home or refinance your existing mortgage, here are the credit scores that matter — and what you can do to make sure your scores are as high as possible.