If you are in the market to buy a new car or a house, or even to rent property, your FICO score will be checked. The main benefit of credit scoring, lenders argue, is that they can make decisions faster by using automated systems.

You may now ask, What is a FICO score? A FICO score is a scoring method developed by the Fair Isaac Corp. to aid the three major credit bureaus, namely, Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. It is a computer model that assesses your credit worthiness against several other customers.

In the past, when you applied for a credit or loan, you were in complete darkness about your credit score. The lender would request the score from one or more credit bureaus and, if you wanted to access such information, you were required to a certain amount of fee. At the present, you can access your credit reports without any charge. You can also have your credit score report send to you via email or post mail free of cost, at a regular time period, such as once monthly.

In the past, if there were too many inquiries made on your credit, your credit scores use to go down. However, when you access your credit report now, it doesnt affect your credit score. Scores also vary based on current credit activity. Since credit bureaus only calculate your score at the lender's request, it will be based on the information in your file at that particular credit bureau, at that particular time only.

There are also many website and companies that now help customers understand and get their credit reports for free. They guide the customer through the process and teach them how to access such information. You would have seen the popular television advertisement of Freecreditreport.com You also see a lot of banner advertisements on the web about the subject.