How much do FICO® Scores change over time?

- Posted by Tom Quinn, FICO® Score Product Manager

There has been a lot of focus on the changing FICO® Score distribution recently. The topic that naturally goes hand-in-hand with this is score migration: In other words, how much do individual borrowers' scores change over time.

Every time the FICO® Score is requested, it is calculated based on the most recent information present on the consumer’s credit report at that particular nanosecond.  A recently reported substantial change in consumer credit behavior (such as the new posting of a recent missed payment) will likely change the score and lenders benefit from having access to that fresher score.

We’ve studied score migration several times since FICO® Scores were introduced in 1989.  When evaluating broad representative samples, we consistently see that about 25% of FICO scores changed by more than 20 points over the preceding quarter, 35% changed over the prior two quarters and close to 45% changed by more than 20 points over the preceding three quarters.

Score Changes Over Time