How current is the data in my FICO Score?
While the FICO® Score has been trusted by consumers, lenders and investors for decades, the data that goes into a FICO® Score can be as recent as a payment reported by your lender today.
When a FICO® Score is pulled, say, when a consumer applies for a loan or credit card, the most up-to-date information available at the credit bureaus is used to calculate the score. In fact, while other credit scoring models may generate a credit score based on stale credit information, our minimum scoring criteria requires that at least one credit account has updated information reported in the last six months.
How frequently the data is updated depends on where it resides:
Credit Bureau Data
FICO® Scores use data from the three main credit bureaus. This data is updated by thousands of data furnishers, usually on a monthly basis. It’s generally monthly because most loans (auto loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc.) are billed on a monthly cycle. As a result, these accounts are generally reported to the bureaus on a monthly cycle with information being reported each day of the month by different furnishers. Then, when a FICO® Score is pulled, it reflects the most up-to-date data reported to the credit bureaus. That information may have been reported to the credit bureaus as recently as that very same day.
Alternative Data
Some FICO® Scores use alternative data, which is predictive, regulatory-compliant and found outside of the credit bureau file maintained by the credit bureaus. Telco and utility payment data, similar to credit bureau data is generally reported on a monthly basis. The UltraFICO® Score empowers consumers to leverage their checking and savings account data to enhance their score. When the UltraFICO® Score uses this demand deposit account (DDA) data, it’s current as of the day prior to the score pull.
A consumer’s FICO® Score is calculated using the most up-to-date information available at the credit bureau. The FICO Score is designed to weight all the information appropriately based on a number of factors, including the age of the data. For example, a 5-year-old delinquency carries much less weight than one that occurred 1 month ago. And importantly, we don’t generate FICO® Scores if the only information available is stale (no updates at all in recent months).
To sum up: Is FICO reliant on out-of-date information? Absolutely not. Most of the data that makes up the FICO® Score is updated monthly, with some data updated daily or at other frequencies.
Learn more about the FICO® Score:
