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forex101 · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

I recently paid off all my credit cards except 2 which I am keeping at low balances. I did a credit report from transunion.com and it listed my credit score as a 718 which i thought was great but then when I clicked more info it said a credit score of 718 was equivilent to a C grade and that I should expect to pay higher interest on loans. I'm 20 years old and have established credit (I went through a period of crazyness and jacked my credit card debt up to 8,000 bucks on multiple cards- I have never been late on payments and always paid more than the minimum) now that all the debt is paid off I think that I should have great credit....someone please help me understand!<br />

General · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

718 is fine. Don't close your other cards but you can still go ahead and pay them off. Why do you need to worry about a great credit score? As long as you are not owing anyone money, and would like to buy a house for example, the company can do your credit by hand. Keep up the good work!

Max · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

I'm confused too anything over 680 is considered good
maybe because they are all paid off and when creditors
look on your report they see 8,000 of open credit
that can be used at anytime.

valentina · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

718 is AWESOME credit! There is, "poor, fair, good, and excellent" levels of credit scores, and you range is between 'good' and 'excellent' level! I know this because my Washington Mutual Credit Card keeps track of my credit score for me automatically. One of the benefits with having credit with them.
You can go to "www.FreeCreditReport.com" and you can find some info on there about credit scores and what they mean. You can also inquire at your local bank. They will run a report for you, and go through it with you and advise you what your score means in more detail than I can give you. :-)
Hope this helps. Not to worry. You're doing GREAT! WOW 20 years old and you're doing this great! Keep up the good work there and there will be so many advantages for you when you are ready to purchase a home. :-)

valentina · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

The score numbers at transunion.com com are not real FICO scores. That number is bogus. www.myfico.com is the only website that will give you the real number that will be pulled by banks, credit card and other creditors. The Fair Isaac Corporation owns the formula for FICO scoring and does not share that formula with anyone.

For that matter every other website I have seen posted here for score is bogus too. Those in the know affectionately refer to those bogus scores as FAKOS.

Creditors only use FICO scores. The scores generated by websites other than myfico.com are total useless and a waste of time as they will not be considered by creditors.

Also if you use a credit monitoring service you will see that results post much faster that was is usually indicated here at yahoo answers.

ivory · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

Credit scores vs FICO scores are two completely different things. Your FICO score is the one that banks go on usually in order to determine whether or not they approve you for a loan and what interest rates you may receive. The only place for you to get your FICO score is through www.myfico.com Your Credit Score (which is what you got) is the score that is created by the individual credit bureaus (transunion, experian, equafax) to try and compete with FICO, but so far it hasn't really caught on. Now your FICO score runs from I think it's 350 to 850 and anything about 680 is suppose to be really good. However with Credit Scores their number range is different. I don't remember what number it starts off at but I believe it runs up as high as 950 (don't quote me on that number specifically). That being the case you being in 718 with a credit score isn't as good as what it would be if you were 718 with a FICO score.

As far as the score itself is concerned, give it some time. I don't know how long ago it was that you finally paid off all your debit with the exception of the two cards with low balances you're keeping. But it can take some time for the credit bureaus to catch up. Depending on your banking institution that's handling your credit cards etc they may not report every month or will sometimes be at least 30 days behind if not 60.

However congratulations on paying down your debt as you have it's a great accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.

newrussian · 10-31-2007, 02:06 PM

If you want to know about credit and EXACTLY how it is calculated, go directly to the source:

http://www.myfico.com

Also, 718 is considered A- credit, not C credit. The credit score you are getting is a "consumer score". There are SIX different types of credit scores. Mortgage, for example, pulls a credit score that is specifically used to predict how well a person will perform on a mortgage. There is also a different score for buying a car.

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#1
forex101 Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 36 Rep Power: 6	So Confused about Credit Score please help? I recently paid off all my credit cards except 2 which I am keeping at low balances. I did a credit report from transunion.com and it listed my credit score as a 718 which i thought was great but then when I clicked more info it said a credit score of 718 was equivilent to a C grade and that I should expect to pay higher interest on loans. I'm 20 years old and have established credit (I went through a period of crazyness and jacked my credit card debt up to 8,000 bucks on multiple cards- I have never been late on payments and always paid more than the minimum) now that all the debt is paid off I think that I should have great credit....someone please help me understand!<br />

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#2
General Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	So Confused about Credit Score please help? 718 is fine. Don't close your other cards but you can still go ahead and pay them off. Why do you need to worry about a great credit score? As long as you are not owing anyone money, and would like to buy a house for example, the company can do your credit by hand. Keep up the good work!

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#3
Max Piggy Bank Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 6	So Confused about Credit Score please help? I'm confused too anything over 680 is considered good maybe because they are all paid off and when creditors look on your report they see 8,000 of open credit that can be used at anytime.

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#4
valentina Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	So Confused about Credit Score please help? 718 is AWESOME credit! There is, "poor, fair, good, and excellent" levels of credit scores, and you range is between 'good' and 'excellent' level! I know this because my Washington Mutual Credit Card keeps track of my credit score for me automatically. One of the benefits with having credit with them. You can go to "www.FreeCreditReport.com" and you can find some info on there about credit scores and what they mean. You can also inquire at your local bank. They will run a report for you, and go through it with you and advise you what your score means in more detail than I can give you. :-) Hope this helps. Not to worry. You're doing GREAT! WOW 20 years old and you're doing this great! Keep up the good work there and there will be so many advantages for you when you are ready to purchase a home. :-)

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#5
valentina Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	So Confused about Credit Score please help? The score numbers at transunion.com com are not real FICO scores. That number is bogus. www.myfico.com is the only website that will give you the real number that will be pulled by banks, credit card and other creditors. The Fair Isaac Corporation owns the formula for FICO scoring and does not share that formula with anyone. For that matter every other website I have seen posted here for score is bogus too. Those in the know affectionately refer to those bogus scores as FAKOS. Creditors only use FICO scores. The scores generated by websites other than myfico.com are total useless and a waste of time as they will not be considered by creditors. Also if you use a credit monitoring service you will see that results post much faster that was is usually indicated here at yahoo answers.

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#6
ivory Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	So Confused about Credit Score please help? Credit scores vs FICO scores are two completely different things. Your FICO score is the one that banks go on usually in order to determine whether or not they approve you for a loan and what interest rates you may receive. The only place for you to get your FICO score is through www.myfico.com Your Credit Score (which is what you got) is the score that is created by the individual credit bureaus (transunion, experian, equafax) to try and compete with FICO, but so far it hasn't really caught on. Now your FICO score runs from I think it's 350 to 850 and anything about 680 is suppose to be really good. However with Credit Scores their number range is different. I don't remember what number it starts off at but I believe it runs up as high as 950 (don't quote me on that number specifically). That being the case you being in 718 with a credit score isn't as good as what it would be if you were 718 with a FICO score. As far as the score itself is concerned, give it some time. I don't know how long ago it was that you finally paid off all your debit with the exception of the two cards with low balances you're keeping. But it can take some time for the credit bureaus to catch up. Depending on your banking institution that's handling your credit cards etc they may not report every month or will sometimes be at least 30 days behind if not 60. However congratulations on paying down your debt as you have it's a great accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.

10-31-2007, 02:06 PM	#7
newrussian Greenhorn Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 6	So Confused about Credit Score please help? If you want to know about credit and EXACTLY how it is calculated, go directly to the source: http://www.myfico.com Also, 718 is considered A- credit, not C credit. The credit score you are getting is a "consumer score". There are SIX different types of credit scores. Mortgage, for example, pulls a credit score that is specifically used to predict how well a person will perform on a mortgage. There is also a different score for buying a car.

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