How to Find Out Your Credit Score

With all the commercials on television and the Internet, everyone seems to know how to get their credit report. But what about your credit score? It’s great to see the information on the report, but what most of us want to know is the actual credit score that banks and other institutions use. You have the right to a free credit report from each bureau every year at annualcreditreport.com. But they do not include your credit scores.

When banks, lenders or creditors pull your credit report, they receive a credit score from each bureau. Your credit score will be the middle score of the three. It’s not the average of the three credit scores. It is not the higher or the lower score of the three.

The three credit bureaus are competitors. They do not share their information with each other. But the three collaborated and created VantageScore scoring system. At first the scoring range was not the same as FICO, it was 501 to 990. Now the range is exactly like FICO’s. And just like FICO, institutions can use VantageScore scoring models, but they cannot copy their algorithm or mathematical model.

VantageScore is popular with credit card issuers. The model requires less credit history to establish a score and is more forgiving with certain types of derogatory information.

As of 2024, VantageScore credit scores are utilized by over 3,700 financial institutions, including some of the top U.S. banks.  The three bureaus were trying to were trying to push the mortgage industry to use VantageScore but The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) decided against switching from FICO to VantageScore.

However, they have plans on transitioning to FICO 10T and VantageScore 4.0 credit score requirements in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Two things to keep in mind is that your true ‘official’ FICO score is only available through Fair Isaacs, the originator of the FICO score (Fair Isaac and Company). All other scores are estimations meant to simulate your FICO score. Fair Isaacs won’t release their formula, so everything else is merely a good guess.

The second thing is that few lenders have abandoned FICO entirely. Most use a combination of both—particularly for borrowers with credit issues.

You can obtain credit scores through these venues:

1.CreditKarma.com. Credit Karma will allow you to see your Trans Union score. Trans Union is one of the 3 major credit bureaus. The score only reflects your Trans Union credit report. Remember it is not your true FICO score. Credit Karma uses versions of VantageScore to give consumers their credit scores. On the plus side, Credit Karma is free and allows you to track your score over time. There are other similar sites that provide free scores. Such as Quizzle and Credit Sesame. They provide your Experian score. Experian is another one of the 3 major credit bureaus.

2. Credit monitoring services. These services typically provide all 3 credit scores and either all 3 credit reports or an all inclusive credit report that compiles all the credit reports into a single report.

These services are typically about $20 a month, but most come with a free trial, usually 7 days. However, again, these are not FICO scores. Some examples of these services would be www.creditreport.com, and www.gofreecredit.com. These websites are great for gauging your progress of moving up or down when you’re working on improving your credit score.

3. Apply for a loan. If you apply for a loan, you can request that the lender show you your scores. Applying for credit will slightly hurt your credit score. This is not the preferred way to see your scores, but you’re likely to see your real FICO scores. There are less damaging ways to get your scores for free. For instance, before applying for a loan, just ask the lender what scoring model do they use..

Many lenders will tell you what credit scoring model they use—but there is no universal requirement for certain individuals or entities to provide information on their own initiative. Instead, some may only share it when specifically asked.

Ask: “Which credit bureau and credit score model do you use when evaluating applicants for this product? Is it a base FICO score, an industry-specific score, or VantageScore?”

4. FICO scores. If you want to see the real thing and don’t want to apply for a loan, go to www.myfico.com. You can sign up for their credit monitoring service that’s $15/month with a 7-day free trial. You also have the option of purchasing individual scores and credit reports at the same website.

The public has access to many types of credit scores, but not all the scores lenders use are directly available to consumers. Here’s a breakdown of which credit scores are available to the public, how to get them, and what they mean.

Credit Scores Available to the Public

FICO Scores (Paid and Some Free Options)

FICO Score Version                           Where You Can Get It                                         What It’s Used For

FICO Score 8                      Discover, Citibank, American Express,                             General lending (most widely                                                                                    Experian.com                                                                used score)

FICO Score 9                                      MyFICO.com (paid),                                               Newer model, growing adoption                                                                      some credit unions

FICO Auto Score 8/9                     MyFICO.com (paid)                                                                  Auto loans

FICO Bankcard Score 8                MyFICO.com (paid)                                                          Credit card lending

FICO Score 2/4/5                         MyFICO.com (paid)                                                Mortgage lending (required by                                                                                                                                                                     Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac)

FICO industry scores (Auto, Bankcard, Mortgage) are typically only available via MyFICO, and are not free.

Here’s a general overview of which credit scoring models major U.S. lenders use across credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages. Keep in mind that lenders can change models and may use different versions depending on the product.

Auto Lenders

Lender                                                  Model Used                                                         Notes

Ally Financial                                         FICO Auto Score 8                                                  Uses auto-specific scores

Ford Credit / GM Financial                FICO Auto Score 9                                                  Auto-enhanced models preferred

Capital One Auto Finance                   FICO Score 8 or Auto Score                                 May vary by applicant and region

Toyota Financial Services                   FICO Auto Score 8 or 9                                         May vary by dealer

Mortgage Lenders

Mortgage lenders are required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to use older FICO models for conforming loans:

Loan Type                                                                                                               Model Used

Conventional Loans (Fannie/Freddie)                                 FICO Score 2 (Experian), FICO Score 4 (TransUnion),                                                                                                                                                  FICO Score 5 (Equifax)

FHA / VA / USDA Loans                                                      Usually same as conventional (older FICO models)

Non-Conforming / Jumbo                                                   May use FICO 8 or 9 or custom risk models