If being good simply isn’t, ahem, good enough for you, let’s talk excellent.
An “excellent credit score” goes beyond those three digits you’ll find on a credit report, but you probably don’t care about that.
You want to see a three-digit number right now, don’t you? Fine. I’ll give you one. 800. An 800 credit score is an excellent credit score.
But guess what? A 780 credit score is also excellent. And so is a 760…at least to some creditors.
Hold on though. What credit score scale are we using? The Fico score’s 300-850 range, or the VantageScore’s 501-990?
Or is it an industry-specific credit scoring scale, such as the Fico score pulled by auto lenders that ranges from 250-900?
It makes a difference you know.
So let’s break it down.
Credit Scores Above 800 Are Excellent
For standard Fico scores, credit scores above 800 are certainly excellent, at least on the surface. And anything in the high 700s is definitely excellent credit as well. Mid-700s can still be considered pretty excellent depending on what’s behind the numbers.
For VantageScore, credit scores between 900-990 are considered an “A” on their credit scoring scale, so I suppose those would be considered “excellent,” given the fact that an A letter grade is typically designated as such.
Be Excellent Three Times Over
Also note that there are 3 credit scores, one from each of the three major credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
You may be excellent with one or two, but just good or average with the other.
You must strive to be excellent with all three in case a creditor only uses one of the three scores, or if they take the median score.
What’s Behind That Excellent Credit Score?
And before you go thinking you’ve got an excellent credit score just because there’s a certain three-digit number on your credit report, look at what’s behind it.
Do you have any missed payments? Do you have a good mix of credit, such as credit cards, auto loans/leases, and mortgages? Are your balances and credit utilization low?
If you answered no to some of these questions, your excellent credit score is probably overrated. And guess what, creditors will look beyond your score to determine your creditworthiness.
If you answered yes to all these questions, your numerically superior credit score is truly excellent, because you’ve got the number and the factors that make up good credit behind it.
Assuming you don’t have excellent credit, here are some ways to improve your credit score.
They aren’t magic solutions that will make you excellent overnight, but if you follow them, you’ll eventually achieve the credit perfection you’ve been looking for.