Dear Liz: You recently discussed FICO scores. Please let me know how I can get mine. My bank says it can only give my husband his score because he is the principal on our account.
Answer: Remember that you don’t have one FICO credit score, you have many. Lenders use different versions and generations of the FICO formula. In addition, FICOs will differ based on which credit bureau was used. So your bank may give your husband a FICO Bankcard Score 2 based on information from Experian, while an auto lender might use a FICO Auto Score 5 from Equifax. These scores almost certainly will differ from his FICO 8 scores, which are the most commonly used scores. The FICOs for credit cards and autos typically are on a 250-to-900 scale, while FICO 8 is on a 300-to-850 scale.
Anyone can get free FICO 8 scores based on Experian data from Experian’s consumer site, Freecreditscore.com, and from credit card Discover at Discover.com. Several other credit card issuers — including American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Citi and Wells Fargo — offer FICOs of various kinds to cardholders.
If you want to see a broader range of your FICO scores, you can buy a three-bureau report from MyFico.com for about $60 that includes FICO 8s, FICO 9s and the most commonly used scores in mortgage, credit card and auto lending from each bureau.