In perusing some of the other forum sites within myFICO, such as the mortgage and lendor issues forums, some of the lendors offer their perspective that it is not uncommon for them to somethimes look more favorably upon one with a 690, or example, FICO score than one with a 720+ score, after doing a manual review. Let us say, an an extreme example, that Mr 720+ is applying for a mortgage loan of $200K, and his CR shows a string of delinquencies and unpaid COs or CAs that have passed the normal 7 year reporting limit, but nonethelss still show on the CR. But Mr. 690 has never been delinquent, or had any COs or CAs.
Moral of the story is that consumers dont decide, and FICO scores per se, does not decide, what is or is not an acceptable FICO score. Only lendors do. The various rate charts that you see posted based on FICO score ranges are just approximations and generalizations.