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The credit score was invented in 1989 to make credit reports more actionable for lenders.
Credit scores affect many parts our lives: whether we qualify for a loan, what interest rate we pay, even where we can rent or whether we get our dream job. But that three-digit number is a relatively new invention—the credit score was invented in 1989, less than 50 years ago.
Understanding the origins of the credit score can help you better comprehend why lenders use it and how to improve your financial situation.
People have borrowed and lent money for centuries. In the early days, storekeepers and lenders only extended credit to people they knew, or they would ask people they respected in town for their views on a person’s credit risk. This informal credit reporting system was highly localized and incredibly subjective.
But as credit became more critical to daily life and people began to move around more, the need for a more widespread credit reporting method arose.
After the Panic of 1837 (partly caused by easy access to credit), Lewis Tappan recognized that businesses might benefit from a better understanding of who to issue credit to. In 1841, he formed Tappan’s Mercantile Agency, the first credit reporting agency in America, to meet this need.
His company hired “correspondents,” reliable men (often attorneys and ministers) who would investigate people’s standing in their communities and report it to the central office. They would then add the information to a central ledger in New York City. Many businesses subscribed to the Mercantile Agency to view these reports before issuing credit.
Tappan was a strict abolitionist, so he only worked with businesses in free states, so other credit reporting agencies began to spring up to work with businesses in the South. Hundreds of these credit reporting agencies existed all over the country by the end of the Civil War, but the system had a few problems:
As more people began to access credit to purchase items like cars and homes in the late 1880s and early 1900s, these credit reporting agencies continued to thrive.
This system was still in place in the 1950s when the ability to digitize records meant that some standardization could occur. Larger agencies started buying their smaller counterparts for additional data they could add to their reports, and national credit bureaus began to form.
In 1956, Bill Fair and Earl Isaac created Fair, Isaac, and Company to make credit reports more actionable for lenders. They used the data in a credit report to perform a statistical analysis that would inform a lender of a person’s credit risk. What resulted was a more analytical approach to interpreting credit reports, but each business or lender had its own algorithm based on the factors they prioritized.
As records continued to be digitized, many people became concerned about the surveillance being done to gather credit information and discriminatory practices in credit reporting. People also realized that credit mistakes would be available forever and could potentially hurt people’s ability to borrow for their entire lifetimes. The Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970 put several protections into place, including:
While more effective for lenders than the previous system, scores varied widely based on a company’s priorities.
The credit reporting bureaus wanted something more standardized, so they partnered with Fair, Isaac, and Company (now known as FICO®) to create the FICO Score, a national scoring model for everyone. The FICO Score debuted in 1989 and quickly became popular with lenders, who no longer needed to hire companies to create their own algorithms. Consumers, who could now know their credit score before applying for a loan, also appreciated the FICO Score.
In the 1990s, the FICO Score cemented itself as part of the lending landscape when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began requiring the score as part of mortgage applications.
In 2006, the three major credit reporting bureaus—Equifax®, Experian®, and TransUnion®—launched the VantageScore®, an alternative to the FICO score. There have been four iterations of the VantageScore since 2006, and the latest version incorporates trended credit data, which includes monthly data points over 24 months. It also utilizes machine learning and does not factor medical debt into its algorithms.
Each major credit reporting bureau also has its own proprietary scoring models that lenders may also consider:
Despite these options, most top lenders use the FICO Score.
Before the credit score, lenders determined a person’s credit risk based on credit reports, which include:
Often, lenders weren’t sure how to interpret your credit report, which led to bias in lending decisions and general confusion for consumers regarding whether they would be approved for a loan when they applied.
The credit score was invented to standardize the lending process to make it faster and more equitable. It prevented lenders from using racial, gender, and class bias when determining someone’s credit risk.
While credit scores eliminated the problems of previous credit reporting systems, they aren’t perfect. Here are a few issues with modern credit scoring:
These problems could result in you paying more in interest for a loan or being denied the loan altogether.
Credit scores have changed since they were invented and will continue to do so as consumer spending and technology change. Here are a few trends that may impact how credit bureaus determine your credit score in the near future:
Your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life. Understanding the history of the credit score and its challenges can help you in your journey to improve your credit. As technology continues to advance, stay informed on the latest updates to credit scoring and take proactive steps to manage your credit with Credit.com.
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