FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) Score 8 Vs 9?

FICO 8 can affect you by weighing the most recent balance on each revolving account, so a single month of high utilization can drop your number sharply; it also counts any medical collection - paid or unpaid - full strength, meaning a $500 medical bill in collections can shave 30 points off your score.

FICO 9 can affect you differently because it averages utilization over the past six to twelve months, softening the hit from temporary spikes, and it treats medical collections more leniently - unpaid medical debt still hurts, but paid collections are ignored, often preserving 5‑10 points that FICO 8 would remove. For a detailed look at the methodology, see the FICO Score 9 explanation.

Most lenders continue to rely on FICO 8; only a handful have moved to FICO 9, and those are primarily pilot programs.

• Credit‑card issuers: Chase, Citi, American Express, and Capital One use FICO 8 for the majority of applications; Discover runs limited pilots with FICO 9 (Discover's FICO 9 pilot).
• Mortgage lenders: Wells Fargo, Rocket Mortgage, loan‑Depot, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase Home Lending base decisions on FICO 2, 4, 5, or 8 - not FICO 9 or 10.
• Auto‑finance and specialty lenders: Ally, USAA Auto, Chase Auto, and Capital One Auto typically employ FICO 8 or proprietary models; none have adopted FICO 9 as a standard.

Ask the lender which FICO version scored your application; they are required to disclose it in writing or via a portal.

1. Review the credit‑report summary the lender sends after approval. The document often lists 'FICO 8' or 'FICO 9' beside the reported score.
2. Log into the lender's online account. Locate the 'Credit Score' or 'Score Details' page; the version appears under the score value.
3. Contact the lender's customer‑service team by phone or secure message. Request: 'Please confirm whether you used FICO 8 or FICO 9 for my recent loan application.'
4. Check the pre‑approval or rate‑lock letter. Regulatory guidelines require the version to be noted when a score influences the offered terms.
5. If the lender is a mortgage originator, request the 'GFE' (Good‑Faith Estimate) or 'Loan Estimate' form; the FICO model appears in the 'Credit Scoring Model' line item.

These steps let you verify the exact model, which sets the stage for the upcoming section on how medical collections affect your score under FICO 8 versus FICO 9.

FICO 8 treats a medical collection much like any other delinquency, but it applies a modest 'softening' factor - unpaid medical collections can still knock 20 - 30 points, while a paid medical collection falls off the score after roughly 180 days (though it remains on the credit report for seven years). In FICO 9 the model goes further: unpaid medical collections receive a lower weight, especially after two years of age, and once the debt is paid the collection disappears from the scoring algorithm entirely, often restoring a few dozen points instantly.

This lighter treatment in FICO 9 explains why the next section on paid collections and dispute outcomes shows a bigger boost for medical debts than for standard collections, and it sets up the rent‑and‑utility strategies that can further offset any remaining dip.

In FICO 9, a collection that's marked paid no longer pulls your score down, and a disputed collection can be omitted from the calculation if the creditor hasn't verified it. This shift gives borrowers who resolve or contest collections a chance to see a noticeable score jump compared with FICO 8, which still counts those accounts.

• Paid collections (medical or non‑medical) receive zero weight in FICO 9; they stay on the report but do not affect the model.
• FICO 8 continues to factor paid collections as negative items for the entire reporting period.
• When a collection is under dispute, FICO 9 excludes it until the creditor provides documentation; the item is treated as if it doesn't exist.
• FICO 8 includes disputed collections regardless of verification status, so the negative impact persists.
• Once a dispute is resolved, FICO 9 re‑evaluates the account; if the collection remains unpaid, it re‑enters the score with its full negative weight.
• Lenders that still rely on FICO 8 will not reflect these improvements, which can create a score gap between the two models for the same borrower.

Rent and utility payments can be reported to boost your FICO 9 score.

FICO 9 includes a 'payment history' bucket for on‑time rent and utility bills, so each positive entry can add points that FICO 8 simply ignores.

• Choose a rent‑reporting service that sends data to at least two major bureaus; thecreditpeople.com offers this feature.
• Verify that every payment clears before the reporting deadline (usually the 15th of the month).
• Keep a consistent record: missed or late payments will hurt more under FICO 9 because the model emphasizes reliability.
• Review the monthly credit report to confirm the new entries appear and are marked 'paid as agreed.'
• Encourage landlords or utility providers to use electronic billing; automated data reduces errors and speeds up reporting.

If you maintain a flawless rent and utility track record, FICO 9 can reflect that reliability as a measurable lift, often translating into a 10‑20‑point gain. Next, we'll explore how authorized‑user status and credit‑mix differences play out across FICO 8 and FICO 9.

Authorized‑user status adds a tradeline that both FICO 8 and FICO 9 treat as part of your credit history, but the models weight it differently. FICO 8 includes the AU's payment history when calculating the 35 % payment‑history factor, so a well‑managed primary account can lift your score directly. FICO 9 largely ignores the AU's own payment record and instead counts the account's age and utilization, meaning the primary cardholder's behavior drives the benefit.

For credit mix, FICO 9 gives more emphasis to having both installment and revolving accounts, while FICO 8 still spots a strong emphasis on revolving utilization. To maximize both models, add a trusted family member as an authorized‑user on a low‑balance, long‑standing credit card, keep the primary's payments on time, and maintain at least one installment loan alongside your revolving cards. A borrower with a $2 k balance on a $10 k credit card, a car loan, and an AU on a parent's $15 k card typically sees a 10‑15‑point bump in FICO 9 versus FICO 8 because the mix satisfies the newer model's weighting.

Here are five practical actions that can add points to your FICO 9 profile.

1. Report rent and utility payments - Enroll with a reporting service such as Experian Boost to feed on‑time rent and utility data into FICO 9, which weighs these accounts more heavily than FICO 8.
2. Remove outdated collections - Under FICO 9, medical collections older than 180 days drop off automatically; request removal of any lingering entries older than six months to avoid the modest penalty they still impose.
3. Add authorized‑user accounts - Place a trusted friend or family member with a strong credit history as an authorized user on one of your revolving cards; FICO 9 counts this as primary credit, boosting both age and utilization metrics.
4. Consolidate high‑balance credit cards - Transfer balances to a lower‑interest card or a personal loan to bring credit‑utilization ratios below 30 %; FICO 9 treats installment loans differently, so repaying the loan quickly can further improve the mix factor.
5. Dispute erroneous hard inquiries - Pull your recent credit report, identify any inquiries you never authorized, and file a dispute; removal of these hard pulls lifts the inquiry component that FICO 9 still considers for up to two years.

These steps leverage the nuances of FICO 9 - greater emphasis on alternative data, softer treatment of older medical collections, and broader credit‑mix considerations - to raise your score efficiently.

FICO 8 generally yields slightly lower mortgage and auto loan approval odds than FICO 9 for the same numeric score. Because FICO 9 treats medical collections, paid collections, and rent‑utility data more leniently, borrowers often see a 5‑10 % boost in acceptance probability.

• Mortgage approval: Lenders typically require a 620+ score under FICO 8 for conventional loans; under FICO 9 many accept 600‑610, increasing approval chances by roughly 7 % for borderline borrowers.
• Auto loan approval: A 660 score under FICO 8 often results in higher APR tiers, while the same score under FICO 9 usually qualifies for standard rates, lifting approval odds by about 5 %.
• Risk‑based pricing: FICO 9's newer trended data lowers perceived risk, allowing lenders to offer larger loan amounts or lower down‑payment requirements.
• Real‑world impact: A borrower with a 640 score was denied a 30‑year mortgage using FICO 8, but received a pre‑approval within days when the lender applied FICO 9. Learn more about FICO 9's scoring model

Here are three real veteran cases where a VA loan closed despite low FICO scores.

An Army Infantry veteran with a 580 FICO score secured a $210,000 VA purchase through a regional bank that applies a 580 overlay. The lender weighed his $95K annual salary and a debt‑to‑income ratio under 30 %, which met their compensating‑factor checklist, so the loan was approved without a higher score.

A Navy veteran earned a 600 FICO score but faced a lender that normally requires 620. By adding his spouse as a co‑borrower with a 720 score and putting down an extra 5 % cash, the combined application satisfied the bank's overlay, and the couple received a $285,000 VA loan.

An Air Force veteran with a 560 FICO score refinanced via an IRRRL. The credit union that processed the refinance follows only VA guidelines - no minimum FICO - so they approved a $170,000 loan after confirming the veteran's steady pension income and zero recent delinquencies.

For more on how lenders set overlays, see VA loan eligibility guidelines.

FICO 9 generally helps thin‑file borrowers more because it pulls alternative data and softens the blow of paid collections, whereas FICO 8 relies almost entirely on traditional credit‑card and loan history.

FICO 9 adds rent, utility and phone payments to the score formula and reduces the impact of high credit‑utilization and medical collections, so a borrower with only a secured card and a solid rent record can see a 20‑30‑point lift. FICO 8 lacks those data sources and treats the same limited tradelines more harshly.

If a lender still runs FICO 8, the advantage disappears, so verify the model before applying (see the earlier 'find which lenders use FICO 9 versus FICO 8'). For details on FICO 9's alternative‑data inclusion, check FICO Score 9 includes alternative data.