FICO Score

It's the number that bears your creditworthiness -- your credit score. And for tens of millions of Americans, their credit score is about to change. First, some background -- a Credit score is crucial for anyone seeking a loan.  Created and managed by FICO, credit scores attempt to put a number value on each potential borrower's creditworthiness.  To determine a credit score, FICO measures payment history, outstanding debt, length of credit history, and credit utilization.  From this data, the company produces a score ranging from 300 to 850 -- the higher the score, the more creditworthy the borrower.