NEW YORK — It’s an important bit of information that determines a lot about your financial life.
Now consumers can increasingly see their FICO credit score for free — the three-digit number that determines if you’ll be approved for a credit card or loan.
Fair Isaac Corp., the company that developed the FICO score, has been working with credit card issuers and lenders to show customers their FICO score.
Jim Wehmann, vice president of FICO’s scores business, offers his insight.
Q: What’s the fastest way to improve your score?
A: Always make your payments on time. Roughly 35 percent of your score is based on payments.
Q: What’s the biggest mistake people make when it comes to their FICO score?
A: Not understanding that the behavior that they take today could impact their score later.
Q: Who are the credit invisibles?
A: They’re called invisibles because they don’t have credit files, so they have no credit history.
