Good News, Fellow Americans: Your Credit Scores Are Improving

Well, this IS good news.

According to CNN Money, FICO (formerly Fair, Isaac and Company), the data analytics firm centered on the matter of credit scoring, says that the average credit score of Americans is now at a robust 700. As a matter of fact, that���s the highest level the folks at FICO have seen since they began tracking the figure 12 years ago.

The credit score scale runs from 300 (the worst) to 850 (the best), although scores much above 700 are generally considered unnecessary for the purpose of realizing the best consumer credit terms.

Ethan Dornhelm, vice president for scores and analytics at FICO, attributes the trend upward to a variety of factors.

���The relative strength of the economy, with low unemployment and rising home prices are helping those consumers who were struggling during the great recession to recover financially,��� he said.

Dornhelm notes, as well, that much greater access to information about credit scores and how they can be affected by any of a variety of consumer behaviors is having a positive impact on those scores.

���As consumers become more educated about the actions they can take to improve their score, we're seeing the average score rise,��� he said, adding that ���we believe that consumers are more aware of their credit reports and FICO scores than they used to be.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large