If your FICO score is not solidly above 700, you are not keeping up:
This is an automatically-generated Wiki post for this new topic. Any member can edit this post and use it as a summary of the topic’s highlights.
Sell! Sell! Sell!
1 Like
By grading on the curve.
2 Likes
Not to mention that they’ve only increased 18 points since the depths of the Great Recession.
Also from the article,
On the other hand, credit card balances and delinquencies are steadily creeping up, as well. “As we’ve gotten further from the Great Recession, lenders are increasingly competing for new card volume, and part of that is loosening their underwriting criteria in order to be more competitive,” Dornhelm said .
It appears the scoring algorithm has changed. For years, I couldn’t get much higher than 802. The factor given was always that I didn’t have enough different types of credit. That was because I had never had a mortgage or any other loan. However, I’m now at 835, still without ever taking out a loan.
2 Likes
That’s encouraging because we’re in the same boat. We have not yet seen a bump, though, and are still sitting between 790 and 805.
Not to worry - it will be OK 
1 Like
Your average age of accounts and the age of your oldest account matter.
Also, you may not be comparing scores generated using the same FICO score model.
Yes, that is part of our problem as my history has a 20+ year gap. As far as the CRAs are concerned, my history begins 7 years ago, and there’s nothing I can do about it … without a time machine or hacking their insecure servers.
Have someone add you as an authorized user to a very old non-Amex card.
Amex reports new authorized user accounts as new accounts, however with most other mainstream issuers you will inherit the open date of the original card.
(Note that you don’t want to be added to someone’s account if the account routinely carries a high balance relative to its credit limit, because balances on AU cards count toward your own utilization for scoring purposes).
1 Like
What’s the benefit of a credit score past 760?
Not much…
Just noticed this article also: https://www.wsj.com/articles/want-a-higher-credit-score-soon-your-cash-could-help-1540123200