Your Beacon Score Is Your Green Light To Credit

Is a Beacon Score something to do with a lighthouse? No, it is a credit score. Equifax contracted with the Fair Isaacs Company to provide a derivation of the FICO score to use in credit scoring. Not too long ago, Equifax branded and marketed this term as a "Beacon score." Although credit reporting agencies no longer market the term, most people still think associate the Beacon score with the Equifax Company.

Equifax is a company founded in the year 1899 and with its current headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. It currently serves as an international presence, offering personal and business financial products and services. Among these is the FICO score they call Beacon. The acronym FICO means Fair Isaac Score. The higher the score, the better you look to lenders considering your credit applications.

Lenders do not decide to offer you credit solely on your credit report score. Often, checking the Beacon score is just an early attempt to find out whether they should do a more thorough check of your credit history. These are the types of scores that lenders use to give that 5-minute approval or denial that is often advertised for used cars and other quick loans.

Lack of credit is also not good either. In this age of ATM's and debit cards, many people don't use their credit cards for convenience anymore. However, going six months or so without using any credit will cause Equifax to lower your credit score because of no recent history.

On the other hand, using too much credit card debt is not good either. Maxing out your cards, even if you pay on them in a timely manner will also lower your score. Credit lenders like to see proper and responsible management of money.

There are things that don't hurt your credit score at all. One of these is when you ask for your own credit score. In addition, current lenders who ask for updates on your credit scoring to adjust interest rates or raise the credit limit do not count against you either.

If you have been turned down for an application based on your FICO score or your Beacon score from Equifax, you have the right to get a free copy of your credit history. This free copy normally doesn't include your score, though. It is always a good idea to get your credit history and credit store, at minimum, yearly. One more thing that doesn't count is the preapproval from all the offers that come in the mail. Many times, the preapprovall list is vetted against a credit score to ensure that only fiscally responsible individuals will get these offers.

Besides the credit history and your Beacon score, Equifax will provide all three credit companies history, fraud protection and score monitoring.

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