A new article from TIME offers some helpful advice on how to obtain your credit score. There are still some mysteries in the world of credit scores, which financial institutions use to determine whether to give a person a loan and how much to charge for it. But the biggest unknown – what is your score? – has been solved.
While consumers could get their credit reports for years at no charge, their scores were not available, or they had to pay for them. In the past year, however, more than 60 million Americans suddenly were able to get either their FICO score, provided by the Fair Isaac Corp, or their VantageScore, from a system developed by the credit reporting bureaus.
Among the other financial institutions giving out scores each month are Ally, Chase, Bank of America , Barclays, Discover, and USAA.
The push for open access came from both market forces and the U.S. government. The hope is that consumers with ready access to their scores will make smarter financial choices, like not paying bills late.
So far, so good. “The anecdotal evidence we’re seeing from both lenders and consumers indicates people who know their FICO Scores tend to develop healthier credit habits than people who don’t know their scores,” says FICO spokesman Jeff Scott.
