Functioning in the U.S. economy using cash only can be a challenge. Simple daily transactions, such as making an online purchase, going out to eat, or even paying a bridge toll is a lot easier if you have a credit or debit card.
Most people know that having a higher credit score is a positive thing as it can help increase access to credit at more attractive rates. Additionally, most people also understand that not paying your bills on time, carrying a high amount of credit debt, and opening up a lot of credit in a short period of time are behaviors that will likely have a negative impact on their credit scores.
What’s less intuitive is knowing what potential actions they could take to reach a target credit score goal by a target date. For example, if someone currently has a 695 FICO® Score 8 based on Experian data and want to increase that score to 725 in 6 months so they can apply for a new credit card, how would they know if that target score was even possible or what actions could be taken to potentially achieve it?
FICO® Score Planner is a new feature built by FICO scientists that enables an individual to set a target FICO® Score 8 goal and desired time duration to reach their goal. These inputs along with an individual’s current FICO® Score 8 and credit report are analyzed by the FICO® Score Planner algorithm, which produces a set of potential actions consumers could take to help reach their target goal. Consumers can then track their progress to their goal or modify their goals along their way.
Ideal for people with an active credit profile, FICO® Score Planner helps take away some of the guess work many people face when trying to figure out potential actions they can take that may help to achieve their FICO Score goals.