Credit scores are an important part of a person’s financial health. Knowing your scores can help keep you on track toward your financial goals.

It’s a good idea to check your credit scores and credit reports from several sources since the same information is not necessarily reported to each of the three main credit bureaus.  

A common credit scoring model to check is FICO, provided by Free Isaac Corporation. FICO has dozens of different scoring versions, and you may be able to check your FICO score — typically FICO^® Score 8 — for free.

Credit Karma provides free VantageScore 3.0 credit scores from the credit bureaus TransUnion and Equifax. VantageScore is a different scoring model than FICO, but it’s still a good way to gauge your credit standing since it’s used by top banks and lenders.

• What is a FICO score?
• How to get your FICO scores for free
  • FICO
  • Discover 
  • American Express® credit cards
  • Citibank® credit cards
  • Bank of America
  • Capital One
  • Wells Fargo
  • Credit unions
• What’s the difference between VantageScore and FICO?
• FAQs about how to check your FICO scores

What is a FICO score?

Your FICO score is a type of credit score. Lenders may use your FICO scores to assess your risk as a borrower when you apply for a new loan or credit card. 

In addition to its base versions, FICO also offers industry-specific scoring models (and scores) for different credit products, such as auto loans, credit cards and mortgages.

Your FICO score is calculated based on a variety of factors, such as:

• Payment history
• Outstanding balances
• Length of credit history
• New credit
• Credit mix

How to get your FICO score for free

Here are some ways to check your FICO score for free. There’s no hard inquiry with any of these options, so checking your score won’t affect your credit.

1. FICO
2. Discover
3. American Express® credit cards
4. Citibank® credit cards
5. Bank of America
6. Capital One
7. Wells Fargo
8. Credit unions

1. FICO

You can sign up for a free account on myFICO.com to access your monthly FICO® Score 8 based on your Equifax credit report.

myFICO.com also offers two paid plans that allow you to access your FICO scores from all three credit bureaus every one to three months, depending on the plan. These paid plans also come with identity theft insurance, credit scores for mortgages and auto loans and identity monitoring.

2. Discover

You can use Discover to help track your FICO® Score 8 based on your TransUnion credit report.

In addition to having access to your free FICO credit score each month, you’ll be able to learn more about the factors that make up your scores. But you have to be a Discover cardmember to view your scores.

3. American Express® credit cards

American Express gives cardholders access to their free FICO® Score 8. The FICO score provided is based on your Experian credit report. 

Your FICO score is available through your online American Express account and gets updated periodically.

4. Citibank® credit cards

Another credit card issuer that will provide your FICO score for free (for select Citi cards) is Citibank. Scores are based on your Equifax® credit reports using the FICO® Bankcard Score 8 model, and they update on a monthly basis. Keep in mind that this FICO score model has a range of 250 to 900.

5. Bank of America

Bank of America offers eligible cardholders free access to their FICO® Score 8. The score provided is based on your TransUnion® credit report and updated each month. Plus, you will also have access to some useful insights.

The first insight tracks your recent scores over time, so you can see how you’ve been performing month to month. This can be helpful if you’ve been working to boost your credit. The second insight will show national FICO score averages. This allows you to compare your score against others.

6. Capital One

Unlike some of the other credit card issuers we’ve mentioned, Capital One allows anyone who signs up to access their FICO® Score 8 from TransUnion for free — you don’t have to be a Capital One customer. 

Plus, you can get personalized insights about your credit score and tips to improve your score. You’ll also get alerts for any important changes on your credit report along with dark web monitoring. 

7. Wells Fargo

Any eligible Wells Fargo account holders are able to access their FICO® Score 9 from Experian for free with monthly credit updates. 

You’ll also get credit monitoring alerts and personalized tips to help improve your credit score.  

8. Credit unions

Another option for getting your FICO scores for free is through a credit union. Not all of them offer this benefit, but if you belong to one, it’s worth checking. For example, DCU Credit Union offers members who sign up free access to their monthly FICO score from Equifax.

What’s the difference between VantageScore and FICO?

VantageScore and FICO are both credit scoring models — they are not credit bureaus. VantageScore is a collaboration between the three main consumer credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Credit Karma provides free credit scores and reports from TransUnion and Equifax using VantageScore 3.0. 

Both scoring models are widely used by lenders and credit card issuers to evaluate credit but they have their differences. For example, you may be able to generate a VantageScore 3.0 credit score with just one month of credit history. With FICO, you’ll need at least one account with six months of credit history reported to a credit bureau to generate a FICO^® Score 8 score.

Another difference between VantageScore and FICO is the scoring models they use to determine your credit scores. While they look at similar factors when calculating your scores, those factors can be weighed differently.

Next steps

Understanding your credit scores, including your FICO credit scores, plays a big part in getting a handle on your overall financial health. For example, your credit scores could affect your borrowing costs when you purchase a new car or home. 

Monitoring your credit reports is another good way to keep an eye on your financial health. It can help you detect errors on your reports — like incorrect personal information, payments you didn’t make, or hard inquiries or new accounts you don’t recognize. 

Credit Karma offers free credit monitoring and can alert you to any key changes to your Equifax or TransUnion credit reports.

myFICO.com also offers free credit monitoring for your Equifax credit report when you sign up and will alert you of any important changes to your report. TransUnion and Experian also offer free credit monitoring when you sign up.

FAQs about how to check your FICO score

Most people associate credit scores with FICO, and with good reason. And while there are many credit scoring models out there, the other main scoring model is VantageScore®.

The Fair Isaac Corporation (formerly Fair, Isaac and Company) introduced the first general-purpose credit score in 1989, and FICO® credit scores have been used in a wide range of lending decisions ever since. But FICO® scores aren’t the only credit scores you’ll see. The other main scoring model is VantageScore®, the third version of which — VantageScore 3.0 — is widely used today.

• What is VantageScore 3.0?
• At a glance: VantageScore 3.0 vs. other scoring models
• How is your VantageScore 3.0 calculated?
• How does VantageScore 3.0 compare to FICO models?
• What is the difference between VantageScore 3.0 and VantageScore 4.0?

What is VantageScore 3.0?

As we mentioned, VantageScore 3.0 is the third version of the alternative credit score model to FICO. But to fully understand how the scoring model works, let’s take a quick step back.

It all started in 2006, when the three major consumer credit reporting bureaus — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax — teamed up to create the first iteration of the VantageScore® credit scoring model.

VantageScore went through several versions before VantageScore 3.0 debuted in 2013. The new model became so successful that approximately 40 million Americans who had previously been without a credit score are now able to get one, according to VantageScore.

The fourth and latest version of the VantageScore® model, VantageScore 4.0, debuted in 2017, but many lenders continue to rely on VantageScore 3.0.

With that in mind, let’s review some of the basic information you should know about how VantageScore 3.0 works and how it differs from other credit scoring models.

At a glance: VantageScore 3.0 vs. other scoring models

How is your VantageScore 3.0 calculated?

VantageScore 3.0 credit scores range from 300 to 850. Earlier iterations of the VantageScore® model featured a different range, but VantageScore 3.0 adopted the 300 to 850 range — the same range as most FICO® scores — to make it easier for lenders to use.

Though individual credit scores are based on a complex series of calculations, VantageScore does offer some insight into how the various credit factors are used to calculate a VantageScore 3.0 score.

Generally, here’s how the categories can break down.

Image: ccupdateutilization-vantage-2

Payment history (about 40%)

The biggest factor in your VantageScore 3.0 credit scores is payment history. In other words, are you consistently paying your bills on time, or are you frequently delinquent on your accounts?

Payment history is typically represented as a percentage showing how often you’ve made on-time payments. Given the weight of this factor, late or missed payments have the potential to significantly harm your credit scores.

Age and type of credit (about 21%)

VantageScore 3.0 also factors in how long you’ve had different types of credit accounts open. (Don’t worry — it doesn’t refer to your actual age.)

Ideally, lenders like to see long-term, established lines of credit. Having a variety of account types is a bonus — as long as you stay up-to-date on your payments — as lenders also typically like to see that you’ve used a mix of accounts on your credit responsibly.

Credit utilization (about 20%)

Credit scores are intended to help lenders get a clearer picture of the type of borrower you might be. That’s why they want to see you using a small percentage of your available credit at any given time. Experts generally recommend a credit utilization ratio of below 30%.

Balances (about 11%)

This factor refers to the total amount of recently reported balances (current and delinquent) on your credit accounts.

Lenders generally like to see low balances on your other credit accounts, as it suggests the chances of you making on-time payments each month is higher. Though the best method is to pay off your balances monthly.

Recent credit (about 5%)

Have you applied for a new credit card lately? Maybe taken out a personal loan? Lenders may want to know these types of things, as your recent credit activity, including recently opened credit accounts and credit inquiries, can be an indicator of future financial performance.

Available credit (about 3%)

Although not a huge factor, lenders typically like to see that you’re only taking out the credit that you need.

How does VantageScore 3.0 compare to FICO® models?

There are many similarities between the VantageScore® and FICO® credit-scoring models. Not only are both typically calculated on a 300-to-850-point scale (newer FICO® scores may range up to 950), but both models put a lot of emphasis on payment history and credit utilization.

For the sake of comparison, let’s take a look at how FICO weighs various factors in your credit scores. Some of these factors may have slightly different names from what we referenced above, but they refer to similar information in your credit reports.

Image: ccupdateutilization-fico-3

• Payment history: 35%
• Amounts owed: 30%
• Length of credit history: 15%
• New credit: 10%
• Other factors, such as types of credit used: 10% 

While much of the information is comparable, one big difference may lie in how VantageScore and FICO evaluate data in order to generate scores, particularly for people without much credit history.

If you have little credit history, there’s a good chance you might not have a FICO® score. FICO requires at least six months of account data reported to a credit bureau within the past six months before a score can be established.

VantageScore, on the other hand, might be able to provide more people with a credit score by using just one month of history on at least one account reported within the previous 24 months.

Do you have a collection account on your credit reports? VantageScore may be a little more forgiving to your situation. Unlike the FICO® 8 credit scoring model, VantageScore 3.0 will ignore any collections account that has been paid in full. (FICO® 9 also ignores any collection account that is paid in full.)

What is the difference between VantageScore 3.0 and VantageScore 4.0?

Over time, VantageScore Solutions has adjusted its credit scoring model to better reflect consumers’ overall credit profile.

In 2017, VantageScore announced a new version of its credit scoring model: VantageScore 4.0. This new model introduces several changes that could affect your credit scores.

Here’s a summary of some of the important changes VantageScore 4.0 brings to the table.

Trended credit data

Typically, credit scores have only been able to take a snapshot of your credit reports based on how they look at a specific period of time. VantageScore Solutions claims that VantageScore 4.0 is the first and only credit scoring model to use trended data from the three major consumer credit reporting bureaus — meaning it could offer deeper, more-accurate insight into your borrowing and payment patterns.

Jeff Richardson, vice president of marketing and communications with VantageScore® Solutions, offers an example: A consumer might accumulate debt around the holidays and then purchase a new car in January. In the short term, that consumer might look like a high-risk borrower. But going back over a longer historical period, as VantageScore 4.0 purports to do, might tell a different story. The end result could be a clearer picture of the borrower.

Tax liens, judgments and medical collection accounts might not hurt as much

In July 2017, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax adopted stricter requirements for collecting and reporting consumers’ tax liens and civil judgments. In light of that change, VantageScore 4.0 doesn’t rely as heavily on tax liens and civil judgments as some previous scoring models.

Credit scores for more consumers

VantageScore 4.0 could be welcomed by consumers with a thin or dormant credit history. VantageScore Solutions says the model leverages “machine learning techniques” to better develop scorecards for consumers with no update to their credit files in the previous six months.

The firm believes this will bolster VantageScore’s ability to accurately score 30–35 million consumers neglected by traditional scoring models.

What’s next

When it debuted in 2013, VantageScore 3.0 added a new dimension to the credit scoring model. Its successor, VantageScore 4.0, similarly aims to provide lenders a better picture of consumers’ credit.

Richardson explains that with each evolution of its scoring model, VantageScore Solutions aims to bring three key items to the market: greater accuracy, greater reach and more consistency.

Credit scores are an ever-evolving concept, but knowing how different models incorporate credit factors can help you address any issues that may arise.