Average FICO Credit Scores Hit All Time High
As America leaves the economic crisis behind and heads toward economic recovery, the American people are also seeing recovery.
According to a study conducted by the Fair Isaac Company (FICO), the creators of the FICO score algorithm, consumer credit scores in America are getting better.
In fact, the average FICO score in the US is now 699, an all-time high.
Fewer credit defaults, fewer charge-offs, fewer collections, and fewer late payments are attributed to this increase.
Consumers seem to be understanding the importance of credit and becoming more educated about their credit scores.
In short, Americans are being more responsible with their credit.
A FICO score of 699 means that for the first time since the development of the FICO score, the average American is on the verge of a “Good Credit Score”.
(According to the following chart from FICO).
Excellent Credit: 750+
Good Credit: 700–749
Fair Credit: 650–699
Poor Credit: 600–649
Bad Credit: Below 600
Is your credit score better today than it was a few years ago?
If not, here is a list of things you can do to improve your credit scores.
Pay Your Bills On Time
Payment history is one of the most important factors in a consumer credit score.
Pay your bills on time and your score will gradually increase, miss a payment and your score can drop over 100 points in no time at all.
Make sure that you pay all of your bills on time, every time, no matter what.
Pay Down Your Credit Cards
The Utilization rate of your credit cards is a huge factor in calculating your credit scores.
Ideally, your balance should be no more than 20% of your credit limit, which means that if your credit limit is $500, your balance should never exceed $100.
Keeping high balances on your cards and going over your credit limit drags down your credit scores so work toward paying your balances down and watch your scores increase.
Repair Your Credit
If you have derogatory accounts such as late payments, charge-offs, collections, judgments, etc… reporting in your credit reports you will need to repair your credit.
You can either learn to fix your credit yourself or hire a professional credit repair service to help you.
CreditFirm.Net has helped thousands of consumers just like you remove negative information from their credit reports and improve their credit scores by leveraging consumer protection statutes like the FACTA, FCRA, FDCPA, HIPAA, and more.
Since 1997, CreditFirm.Net has helped our clients purchase homes, get low-interest auto loans, and save millions of dollars by improving their credit scores.
Is your credit score at least 699?