FICO Score vs Credit Score: Which Number Do Lenders Use?
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Lenders choose which credit score to check, often a FICO Score. A FICO Score is one brand of credit score among several. There are many variations within brands: for example, multiple FICO scores. The score in an app may differ from your lender’s version. This is normal.
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You have a credit score from your banking app or a credit card statement, and you're thinking about applying for a loan. You'd like to know whether that number is the one the lender checks.
Lenders use a score to decide whether to approve you and what interest rate to offer. Once you know which score a lender pulls, and why yours might differ, you can prepare before you apply.
Is a FICO Score the same as a credit score?
A FICO Score is a specific type of credit score. A credit score is the product, and FICO is one brand that calculates it. Other companies calculate credit scores too. These scores often differ. For example, your VantageScore is likely to differ from your FICO score. And your FICO 4 may differ from your FICO 5.
What is a FICO Score?
A FICO Score is a three-digit number calculated by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO). One that helps lenders judge how likely you are to repay a loan. A FICO Score is calculated only from what's in your credit report. An exception is the UltraFICO Score, which also weighs banking data you allow it to use. Your age, salary, job, and where you live don’t affect a FICO Score.
What is a credit score?
A credit score predicts how you'll handle credit, such as paying a loan back on time. The number is calculated based on information in your credit report.
FICO isn’t the only credit score brand. VantageScore is another brand built by Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, the three nationwide credit bureaus that keep credit reports. You may also have credit scores calculated by Chexsystems, LexisNexis, Early Warning Services, or others. Those scores are typically designed to represent a specific kind of risk.
Credit report vs credit score
Your credit report is your credit history, a list of data your lenders, credit card companies, and other creditors send to credit bureaus. Credit score companies like FICO use your credit report to calculate credit scores.
| Credit report | Credit score | |
|---|---|---|
| What it holds | Accounts, payment history, collections, public records, inquiries | A number predicting how you'll repay |
| Who produces it | Equifax, Experian, TransUnion | A scoring model, such as FICO or VantageScore |
| In the free weekly report at AnnualCreditReport.com | Yes | No |
When a score surprises you, check your credit report. It might contain errors you can dispute.
Why do I have different FICO Scores?
You have several FICO Scores, and other scores too. Scores differ by model and version, among other things. Slightly different scores are normal.
Scores within a single company, FICO or otherwise, differ because credit score companies offer multiple scores. FICO has updated its model over the years, so several FICO Score versions are in use. FICO also makes versions tuned for one kind of credit: FICO Auto Scores for car loans and FICO Bankcard Scores for credit cards.
Why does my credit score differ by bureau?
Each bureau may get its data from different sources, one reason why credit scores differ between bureaus. Creditors don't have to report to every bureau, so a creditor may send data to only one or two. Many lenders update the bureaus about every 30 days. They report at different times of the month, so your reports can differ slightly on any given day.
Other companies' models apply their own formulas to the same data, so their scores may not match a FICO Score. For how the two major brands compare, read VantageScore vs FICO.
Which credit score do lenders use?
Your lender picks the score and bureau, and the choice can depend on the kind of loan you want.
| Kind of loan | Scores the lender may use | How many scores it checks |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac | Classic FICO (FICO Score 2, 4, or 5) or VantageScore 4.0 | One from each of three bureaus |
| Car loan | FICO Score 8 or 9, FICO Auto Score, or VantageScore | One or several |
Mortgage credit score vs FICO
Mortgages sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy loans from lenders, required Classic FICO for decades. Classic FICO means FICO Score 2 at Experian, FICO Score 5 at Equifax, and FICO Score 4 at TransUnion. Since September 9, 2026, any lender Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac approves may use VantageScore 4.0 instead. Your lender could check either.
Most mortgage lenders check a score from each of the three bureaus and use the middle one to set your rate. For example, with scores of 680, 702, and 715, the lender uses 702.
For a home with one to four units, the lender must give you the score it used and the key factors behind it. Compare it with your own reports, and dispute errors.
Which score do car and personal loan lenders use?
Car lenders choose from among several scores to review. Some check more than one. A FICO Auto Score can give your car loan and lease history more weight.
A personal loan lender also decides for itself which score and bureau to use.
If a lender denies you because of your credit report, it must give you the score it used and the key factors that hurt it. It must send its decision within 30 days after you complete your application. A lender must also send you the score if it approves you on worse terms than most of its customers get because of your report.
Is your FICO Score or credit score better?
Your FICO Score is one of your credit scores. People tend to use FICO Score and “credit score” interchangeably. A more useful distinction is VantageScore vs. FICO Score, which are competitor credit score brands.
Also—the score your lender checks might be different from the one on your banking app. Say your banking app shows 720, and the lender pulls a FICO Score 2 from Experian that reads 695. The lender uses the score it pulled, so 695 is the number that counts for that loan. Treat the number on your banking app as an estimate of what your lender will see.
Some services show an educational score instead of one a lender would use. For most people, an educational score is close to lenders' scores. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) report found a meaningful difference for one person in four.
When your score and the lender's score differ
A credit report error could lower your score, which could mean a higher interest rate than you'd get without it. Fix errors in three steps.
- Get your free report from each bureau at AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can check each once a week. Compare them: one bureau's report may hold information the others don't.
- Dispute a credit report error with the bureau, online, by mail, or by phone, and with the company that reported it. Explain in writing what's wrong and why, with copies of your documents.
- The bureau must look into it within 30 days, or 45 if you send more information. If the error remains, ask the bureau to add your statement to your report, and file a complaint with the CFPB.
How to check your FICO Score
Your bank, credit card company, or another lender may share FICO Scores with you free through FICO's Open Access program. Look for yours on your statement or in the lender's app. As of October 2026, each bureau also offers you a score. Experian's free score is a FICO Score 8. Equifax's free daily score is a VantageScore 3.0. Scores you get from TransUnion are VantageScore 3.0.
Nonprofit credit counselors and housing counselors trained by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development often give free reports and help you review them. There are many free resources walk you through how to check your credit score.
Your own request for your credit report is a soft inquiry. Soft inquiries don't affect your credit scores. Your own check of your credit scores doesn't hurt them, either.
Bills Action Plan
- Ask the lender which score it checks. Check your free FICO Score or VantageScore. This gives you a ballpark idea of what your lender sees when they check your score. If you fall outside the lender’s ideal range, now is the time to improve your credit score.
- Check credit reports at least 45 days before you apply. This gives you time to dispute errors and fix your score. A bureau can take up to 45 days to look into a dispute. If your lender specifies which bureau’s report they look at, prioritize that one.
- Make timely credit payments. Timely payments keep all your credit scores healthy. It’s more effective to make timely payments over long periods than implement quick credit-boosting strategies at the last minute. Timely payments are the biggest factor across all credit scores.
Key Terms
FICO Score: Fair Isaac Corporation's brand of credit score, used by lenders to judge how likely you are to repay. It comes in several versions.
Credit score: A number, built from your credit reports, that predicts your credit behavior.
Credit report: The record of your credit accounts and payment history that a credit bureau keeps.
Credit bureau: A company that collects account data from creditors and compiles it into credit reports. The three nationwide bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
Scoring model: The formula that turns the information in your credit report into a score.
Soft inquiry: A check of your credit that doesn't affect your credit scores, such as your own request for your report.
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Is there one official credit score?
No, there is no single official or best credit score. A credit score is a commercial product. You have many credit scores created by non-government businesses. These scores are sold to banks and credit unions, which decide individually which score(s) they consider acceptable.
Is a 500 FICO Score bad?
Yes, a 500 is considered bad credit. You might struggle to get a new credit application approved with a FICO Score below 580. FICO defines poor credit as 300 to 579. FICO Scores from 580 to 669 are fair, and 670 to 739 are good. Though it’s not necessarily impossible to get credit with a low score, your options might be limited to loans for poor credit, which offer below-average terms. Some lenders offer products specifically to borrowers with low scores. For example, lenders will advertise bad credit personal loans.