April 21, 2015 - Forbes.com - For years, FICO credit scores have played a disproportionate role in our lives. FICO, which is used by 90% of lenders in America, determines whether or not we can be approved for a mortgage, auto loan or credit card. It is also used to determine how much we can borrow, and what interest rate we will have to pay if we are approved.

FICO uses data from credit bureaus to assign borrowers a score between 300 and 850. The best scores are given to people who always pay on time, have limited credit card debt and no negative collections activity, judgments or previous bankruptcy filings. People lose the most points for missing payments, receiving collection items or filing bankruptcy.