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I signed onto my PenFed account (I have checking, savings and a Promise credit card). I noticed they offer FICO scores, which I was not aware of, could be sometign new. PenFed says "Your FICO® NextGen Score of 838, pulled on 05/27/2014, is the same score that PenFed uses to manage your account." It lists two reasons affecting my score:
(1) Your FICO® Score evaluates your mix of credit products, and your credit report shows no retail accounts or sufficient recent information about your retail accounts. People who demonstrate responsible use of different types of credit are generally less risky to lenders.
(2) Too many inquiries last 12 months. A common misperception is that every inquiry will drop your score a certain number of points. This is not true. Typically, the presence of inquiries on your credit file has only a small impact on FICO® scores, carrying much less importance than late payments, the amount you owe, and the length of time you have used credit. However, as a general rule, if you don't need or plan to use credit, don't apply for it. Your FICO score will consider recent inquiries less as time passes, provided no new inquiries are added.
My question: What is a "retail" credit card? (I think they mean store credit cards such as Target, Barneys NY, Bloomingdales, etc? Yes I do not have any of those since I like my AMEX for points etc and have enough MC and Visa cards already.) It probably doesn't matter unless I am seeking a perfect 950 (max under this model), since the interest savings from a 838 to 950 is probably not much.
Had to log in again just to see if that was there. It wasn't there earlier this morning. Score of 810. Lates are almost 6 years old and will fall off next year.
Key Factors affecting your FICO® NextGen Score:
Serious delinquency The presence of a serious delinquency is a powerful predictor of future payment risk. People with previous late payments are much more likely to pay late in the future. | |
Keep this in mind: As these items age, the impact on your FICO® Score will gradually decrease. Most late payments stay on your report for no more than seven years. | |
No recent revolving balances Your credit report shows no recent balances on your revolving accounts. Your FICO® Score was hurt because you are not currently demonstrating active revolving credit management. | |
Actions You Can Take: You might consider moderate and responsible use of your credit cards revolving accounts, such as charging low balances and repaying them on time. |
I just login, and saw it for the first time. I also got the too "too few retail accounts"; I guess retail account = store card?
Key Factors affecting your FICO® NextGen Score:
Amount owed on revolving accounts is too high Your FICO® Score evaluates how much you owe on your revolving accounts, such as your credit cards. Generally, the more you owe on these accounts, the greater risk you pose to lenders. | |
Actions You Can Take: Consider lowering the balances on your revolving accounts, e.g., by paying more than the minimum payment each month if you can. Keep in mind that consolidating or moving your debt from one account to another will usually not help your FICO® Score since the total amount owed remains the same. | |
Too few retail accounts with recent payment information Your FICO® Score considers the number of retail accounts with recent payment or activity information. In your case this number is too low because you have very few accounts or because you have few accounts with recent payment or activity information. | |
Actions You Can Take: Demonstrate an ability to moderately and responsibly use retail accounts. If you have a retail account, show new balance activity by using the card and paying it back on time. If you don't have any open retail accounts, consider opening one. However, be aware that opening a new account, and to a lesser extent, the credit inquiry associated with applying for one may lower your FICO® Score in the short term. |
When I logged into my PenFed account this afternoon, it was offering the free Equifax FICO score.
Anyway, just spreading the word out there.
Do you have a credit card or just a checking/savings account?
I'm asking because I currently don't have a card with them and don't have that offer.
(figured that this info would be generally useful for the board.)
I have both a credit card and and a savings account.
I just logged into the my account to check the status of the my Thrifty Credit Services. I notice now they have Free FICO SCORE. I don't know it's only for me. It wasn't there yesterday. Check yours!!!
Yap.
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/PenFed-uses-this-FICO-score/td-p/3244620
I take it this is a FAKO of some kind? If not I'm definitely joining penfed