How can you tell people you know what the formula is for Fico...?

Question

when that information is proprietary and a very tightly guarded secret. I have seen many people say things like this:

* 35%, punctuality of payment in the past
* 30%, the amount of debt, expressed as the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits)
* 15%, length of credit history
* 10%, types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance)
* 10%, recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently

but I want proof that you know what you are talking about. Where can I go to find the formula that you are reporting to people? I know that Fair Isaac didn't give it to you, because they don't tell anybody. So where did you get it from?

Answer 1

That would be me that you're quoting. Try the following links for "proof."

The exact forumla is secret, sure. How do you get a point value out of how many on time and how many late payments we have, I don't know. How do you make a point value out of how long your credit history is, I don't know. One point per month? One point per year? But the basic percentages stand.

Answer 2

Calculation of credit scores by alll credit agencies and financial institutions is done by their own internal software, which is a proprietary trade secret that you cannot obtain. Employees of these companies are required, as a condition of employment, to sign a confidentiality agreement, and can be sued under trade secret laws for any disclosure not specifically authorized by their employer. The general guidelines that you set forth are accurate only as a general guide. Many other factors, different for each credit agency, are used to fine tune their calculations. You simply cannot get access to their trade secret business methods. Anyone who says otherwise is shooting you some wind.

Answer 3

it's because it's based on studies of thousand of credit profiles, sooner or later you'ld see the pattern emerge and can pretty much sucessfully extrapolates what affect you FICO score, that rule of thumb stated is pretty accurate