The Vantage Score

Posted by: Meredith K. | Dec 21,2007


If you haven’t heard about it already, there’s a new credit scoring method on the block.  Vantage Score is a new credit scoring system set to rival the Fico score, thus far the gold standard for credit scoring.  The Vantage Score was designed by the three top credit bureaus so it has some pretty high credibility.  Time will tell, yet, how much the Vantage Score will take hold in the eyes of lenders.  The Fico score is still accessed by lenders to gauge your risk for a loan, but Vantage now offers an alternative.  

There’s an important issue to keep in mind with the Vantage: it’s scored on a different scale than Fico.  A mediocre score for Fico is 620 and below.  For Vantage, an average score is in the 700-800 range, so you may have a false sense of the quality of your score, thinking a high Vantage Score is equal to a high Fico score.  It is not.  On the flip side, a great Fico score is 700 and above.  In Vantage, 700 is mediocre, so it’s going to create some potential confusion, at least in the beginning before the Vantage Score is more commonplace.  

One of the major advantages of the Vantage Score is that it will be the same for each credit bureau.  As it stands now, you can order up copies of your Fico score from each credit bureau and receive three different credit scores, albeit in the same general ballpark.  If you receive an 825 credit score with Vantage, you’ll have the same score across the board.  This will make it much easier to monitor credit, as you won’t have conflicting information on each report.  

The advantage also is cost.  If you’ve maxed out your quota for a free credit report, you have to buy three separate credit reports.  With Vantage, you only need one.  However, a Vantage Score could cost more overall.   

It may take some time for the Vantage Score to fully take hold, perhaps several years.  There is the possibility that it could replace Fico, but that’s not going to happen any time soon.  It’s an easier score to read for consumers, though, so if you’re interested in monitoring your credit rating, it’s a new user-friendly option.  

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