Credit Score Ranges, Explained

The ranges

FICO scores, which most lenders use, run from 300 to 850. FICO's own bands are: poor below 580, fair 580–669, good 670–739, very good 740–799 and exceptional 800 and above. VantageScore, the other common model, uses the same 300–850 scale with slightly different labels.

"Bad credit" in lender advertising usually means anything under about 630, and most of the readers this site is written for sit between 500 and 620 — or have no score at all because their file is too thin.

Why one lender says no and another says yes

Because they aren't looking at the same thing.

Banks and mainstream online lenders typically want a score in the good range or better, and they use the score as a gate. Credit unions look at the score but weigh your income and your relationship with them more heavily. Paycheck-advance apps mostly ignore your score and read your bank account instead: steady direct deposits, no bounced payments, an account that's been open a while. Subprime installment lenders often use "alternative" credit bureaus like Clarity and FactorTrust, which track payday and installment loan history rather than credit cards and mortgages. A 520 FICO with a clean bank history can be a yes at an app and a no at a bank.

That's also why "no minimum credit score" on a lender's card doesn't mean everyone is approved. It means the score isn't the gate; income and bank history are.

Soft pulls and hard pulls

A soft pull doesn't affect your score and is what most apps and many subprime lenders use to pre-qualify you. A hard pull can lower your score by a few points and stays on your report for two years. Each review on this site says which kind the lender uses. Applying to several hard-pull lenders in a week is a bad idea; pre-qualifying with soft-pull lenders costs nothing.

Check your own score and report for free

You're entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com — now available weekly, permanently, not just once a year. Your bank or card issuer likely shows a free score in its app. Look for errors: wrong accounts, paid debts shown as open, someone else's information. Disputing an error is free and can move a score quickly.

What moves a thin or damaged file

Paying every account on time, including the ones that aren't loans. Getting a secured card or a credit-builder loan reported. Keeping card balances well under the limit. Not opening several new accounts at once. None of it is fast — six to twelve months of clean history is where lenders start to change their minds — which is why step 4 of the cost ladder exists.