When consumers apply for a credit card, car loan, or mortgage, lenders want to gauge the risks involved before loaning money to a potential customer. What credit score are they most interested in - Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion? The fact is that 90 percent of lenders, including most of the largest banks, are only interested in the scores generated by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO). There are three FICO scores, one for each of the three credit bureaus which most people are familiar with—Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax—and each score is based on information the credit bureau keeps on file about an individual.

Consumers will find it more difficult to obtain prime financing without a good score. There is also a difference between a credit score and a FICO score, an important distinction, since consumers frequently purchase their credit scores mistakenly believing them to be FICO scores.

FICO scores are produced jointly by the credit bureaus and Fair Isaac Corporation. The bureaus provide credit data while FICO provides each bureau with a scoring formula that calculates a score predicting the likelihood a person would pay all credit obligations on time.

The importance of the data used in FICO credit scoring varies according to how well the information contributes to predicting a consumer's future credit performance. For example, due to its proven higher predictive value, the presence of a late payment on a credit card will take a higher degree of importance in the scoring formula than a credit inquiry which, while predictive, is not as effective at predicting future performance.

Five factors determine a person’s FICO score:

1. payment history, which makes up 35 percent;
2. revolving balance, which makes up 30 percent;
3. length of credit, which makes up 15 percent;
4. new credit, which makes up 10 percent;
5. and types of credit, which accounts for the final 10 percent.

Some general advice includes not closing unused credit accounts since they award consumers points. Doing so would close available credit lines to consumers and also change the person’s debt to credit ratio. Pulling out unused cards once in a while and using them is also a good idea. Above all, always being aware of how personal credit is being reported and using credit in a healthy manner will best help consumers to obtain financing when needed.