Article: On the money Credit score key in loan decisions

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM PRINTED VERSION

Do you know the score? This week marks the first anniversary of publicly available credit scores. And it might pay to check in to see where you rank.

Credit scoring has long been a behind-the-scenes method that lenders use in determining who should get credit -- and what interest rates they should pay. Unlike a credit report, which simply tracks your bill-paying habits as reported by your creditors, your credit score assigns a weighting to other variables in your personal financial history.

Credit scores were kept secret until a year ago, when Fair Isaac, the company that created the best-known scoring model, decided to make its ...

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