Whenever you are applying for credit or purchasing or renting property, your FICO score will be looked at to assess your credit worthiness. Usually, the higher the score, the better your chances to get the required credit or loan.

FICO Scores have a range of 300 to 900 points. This score is arrived at by using scoring models and mathematics tables. The Fair Isaac Corp. has developed a computer model that takes into account different pieces of information about your credit status, both current as well as past. After gathering all this information, the model compares information to the credit status of thousands of other people and accordingly assigns you a score.

An average FICO score is usually considered to be around 720. However, that is not always the correct standard to be sure if you get the credit or not. It may happen that in spite of you having an average score, the lender has other conditions and parameters that you still need to qualify. A credit score that one lender considers acceptable may be regarded as unacceptable by other lenders for equivalent credit instruments.

The Fair Isaac model takes into account five aspects while appraising your credit worthiness. Your average FICO score can be adversely affected by past payment history, balance owed, length of credit history, amount of new credit, and the type of credit used. The FICO score fluctuates depending on credit activity. Please note that federal law prohibits personal information such as race, sex, religion or marital status to be disclosed for credit checks and that these factors are not accounted in your FICO score.

You can achieve and maintain an average FICO score by paying all your bills on time, not applying for credit too frequently, and reducing your credit card balance.