FICO scores are used in the real world by 90% of lender organizations to evaluate your credit risk. Your FICO score is based on a 300 to 850 scale. Your credit score plays a key role in lending decisions, but creditors often interpret a person’s score within the historical context that credit file reports provide. VantageScore (VS) 3.0 is FICO’s closest competitor. It uses the same scale as FICO (300 to 850), although it weighs the factors comprising the VS score differently. You can use your VS score to get a general feeling of your credit profile, but don’t expect it to match FICO. Here is a comparison of the score ranges for FICO and VantageScore: FICO scoring depends on five weighted factors: Payment history (35%): Your record of payments, including late payments, collections, and defaults. Only on-time payments are positive. Amounts owed (30%): Your debts, including your credit utilization ratio for credit card debt. The less you owe, the better. Credit history age (15%): The age of each account, including oldest, newest, and average. The older, the better. New credit (10%): Recent hard credit inquiry pulls of your credit report. The less credit check activity, the better. Credit mix (10%): The different types of debt you use currently and in the past. The more varied, the better.