FICO Gets a Facelift

It looks like Fair Isaac is reacting to this recent lending debacle by improving on its formula for creating the almighty FICO score. Habitual late-payers will be more heavily penalized, while those of us with the occasional 1-30 day late payment will be spared a few points to the negative. Of course all this reprogramming isn't being done for your benefit; it is for the benefit of lenders whose bottom lines were eaten alive by subprime customers.

What do the changes mean for you? Unless you plan to run out and acquire new debt, probably not much. The changes do emphasize the need to implement your debt snowball plan and start paying things off quickly. Those with higher credit limit utilization (balance to credit limit ratio) will be hit harder in the FICO 08 scoring model, so it pays to drive those high balances down lower.

No more piggyback rides allowed. This may be one of the only positives out of the new FICO changes. Previously, people listed as gauthorized usersh still got benefits of having a good credit line, even though they were not financially responsible for the account. Many of those late-night credit repair crooks used this technique to improve scores. They would pay a person with good credit to add someone with lousy credit as an authorized user (of course, Lousy never got a card or the number). By virtue of being paired up with Mr. Credit Pimp, Lousy saw her credit score increase. Under the new model only an accountfs applicant or co-applicant will have their score impacted by account activity.

FICO has really dumbed down the financial industry. I guess in some ways FICO has helped to prevent discriminatory lending practices (after all, it is just a number, not a sex, race, or age). However, the negatives far outweigh the positives in my opinion. Banks used to consider how long someone was on the job, or whether or not they paid their landlord on time, when considering lending money. An employer would use interviews and a firm-handshake-test to determine if someone was trustworthy. I remember when I worked in a new credit department of a large financial firm the only things that mattered on an application where FICO and income.

These days we look down on people with poor scores and exalt those with scores in the 800's. Can you imagine the personals in only a few years? Male 6Œ3/220lbs/760 FICO seeking Female in the 720-760 range.