Can You Figure a FICO?

Credit scores play a role in a variety of financial transactions. From getting new insurance to applying for a loan or credit card, your credit score determines your eligibility and plays a role in setting your interest rate. One such score is the FICO score. More lenders request FICO scores when evaluating applications than any other credit score. Checking your own FICO score before your lender does helps prevent unpleasant surprises.

FICO Scoring Formula

The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) owns the mathematical formula used to calculate FICO scores. The Fair Isaac Corporation has never released this formula to the public, because that would hurt the company's profit margin. If consumers could calculate their own FICO scores, many would do that rather than purchasing scores from the Fair Isaac Corporation. Without access to the formula, you cannot calculate your own FICO scores.

Buying FICO Scores

Although you cannot calculate your own FICO scores, you can purchase your TransUnion and Equifax FICO scores from the credit bureaus or directly from the Fair Isaac Corporation by visiting the myFICO website. Unlike credit reports, which can be obtained free once each year, you are not entitled to receive a free credit score.

While you can purchase TransUnion and Equifax FICO scores as often as you wish, you cannot purchase your FICO score from Experian. As of February 2009, Experian stopped allowing consumers to purchase its FICO scores and made its FICO scores available only to lenders.

Credit Information

To help consumers better understand their credit scores, the Fair Isaac Corporation provides general information regarding how the company calculates FICO scores. Your payment history accounts for 35 percent of your score, the amount you owe your creditors accounts for 30 percent, the types of credit you use is 10 percent, new credit accounts for 10 percent, and the length of your credit history accounts for 15 percent.

FICO vs. VantageScore

FICO scores aren't the only credit scores available on the market. You can opt to purchase a "VantageScore." The VantageScore is a credit score calculated and marketed by the three major credit bureaus. If you plan to purchase your FICO score from the credit bureaus rather than the Fair Isaac Corporation, you must stipulate that you want a FICO score rather than a VantageScore.

Scoring Changes

In an effort to maintain the highest degree of accurate risk assessment, the Fair Isaac Corporation alters the formula it uses to calculate FICO credit scores every few years. Thus, even if you did obtain the blueprints behind your FICO score, the information would only remain valid until the Fair Isaac Corporation updated its scoring formula.