FICO states average score

FICO CEO's "mid 600s" statement differs from company line in the past

8/25/2009 | By Greg Fisher, creditscoring.com

In 2007, FICO^[1] said: "The average FICO score is not 678. Fair Isaac prefers to cite the median FICO score which is 723, since knowing the median score is more helpful to consumers than knowing the average score."

FICO's^[2] myFICO.com still states, "The median FICO score in the U.S. is 723."^[3] [2014 update: See Secret.]

However, in an August 6 interview on CNBC about a company study,^[4] the FICO CEO uttered, "Average score is somewhere in the mid 600s." [2:50 in video]

The exchange in context:

INTERVIEWER:	What do you consider the low end? What do you consider the high end? What do you recommend?
FICO CEO:	Well, the score ranges from— the FICO scores range from 300 at the low to 850 the high. So, typically anything under 640, 620 is considered a low-quality credit score, and above 720 or 740 is considered high. Average score is somewhere in the mid 600s.

In January, TIME reported: "A few years ago, Fair Isaac calculated that the average FICO score in the U.S. was 723. Fair Isaac hasn't gone back to recalculate the average recently, but observers say it has most certainly dropped in the past year."

Update February 3, 2014

Fair Isaac has a new CEO.

The average credit score is secret (see above).

Update February 3, 2014

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