FICO 08 Credit Score Now Available From Equifax

Equifax is making a new type of credit score available that will potentially change the way that lenders view your next loan application.
BEACON 09, Equifax name of Fico 08, Score provides improvements to the lenders in risk assessment over current BEACON scores, particularly among applicants opening new accounts, consumers with prior derogatory information, and people who are comparatively new to credit.


Some lenders, generally smaller ones who can switch over their systems more quickly, are already using the FICO 08 score with TransUnion LLC, which began offering the score to lenders in January, says Tom Quinn, vice president of global scoring at FICO. Larger lenders will take longer to switch over.
Most lenders will continue to use standard FICO credit scoring methodology for now, but consumers should expect that the FICO 08 score methodology to become more frequently used over time.
In many ways, the new system has similar features to the old one. Consumers will still receive a score between 300 and 850, and the minimum scoring criteria has not changed.
But important changes have been made to how this version weights certain transgressions.

Collections and public records with an original amount less than $100 are bypassed? This means consumers with these pesky low-dollar derogatory items won't see lowered scores for such delinquent amounts, although it's still wise to pay them.
The process of "piggybacking" your way to a better score won't be possible. No sense in buying your way onto someone else's credit card as an authorized user. FICO put the kybosh on that.
Consumers who have high credit card utilization, meaning that their credit card balances are high in comparison to their credit limits, will be penalized more because FICO's research has concluded, obviously, that those of you who are running up larger credit card balances are more risky today than you were in the past.
"The model tends to be harsher on consumers carrying a higher debt load compared to previous versions," Quinn told the Journal. But the newer version is also more forgiving of one-time slipups, so those who otherwise pay their bills on time could see their scores improve. "We're seeing movement on both sides," he says.
But regardless of whatever version of FICO that lenders are using, there has been a "noticeable movement into lower scores," given the economic slowdown and rise in delinquencies, says Quinn. The silver lining is that some consumers' scores are improving as they pay down their balances, avoid applying for new credit and continue to pay their bills as agreed, reported the Journal.
For more credit score news and tips , visit What's my credit score Guide.