By Pamela Yip
Many consumers are now in the top range of 800-850 of the FICO credit score, which is used by many lenders to determine creditworthiness, according to FICO Labs.
The company said 18.3 percent of consumers have a FICO score in that coveted range, the highest level since October 2008. The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850.
However, the number of consumers with a FICO score between 700-799 hasn’t rebounded, indicating that consumer credit health isn’t yet back to its pre-recessionlevel, FICO researchers said.
The percentage of consumers – 15.5 percent — in the 700-749 range is the lowest that FICO has seen since the company began tracking this information in 2005
And the percentage of consumers – 19.4 percent — falling between 750-799 is the lowest that FICO has seen since April 2009.
“There has been a clear shift,” said Rachel Bell of FICO Labs. “Many consumers have moved into the top tier of the FICO score range by redoubling their efforts to maintain an excellent credit profile. Other people have fallen into lower tiers, most likely due to the financial stress that many households have been feeling.”
Despite this shift, more than half of Americans with a FICO score in the U.S. are between 700-850, “which means they have managed their credit well despite the economic downturn,” she said.
The research by FICO Labs was conducted on a national sample of 10 million consumer credit profiles as of last October.