WHAT'S IN A SCORE?

In the 28 years since Fair Isaac introduced the first FICO "credit score," which is calculated from credit bureau reports that track consumers' bill-paying histories, the number has become ubiquitous -- so much so that the company has changed its name to FICO and become a target for competition and critics. The most direct competition comes from the three national credit bureaus themselves. Equifax, Experian and Transunion formed an independent joint venture and in 2006 began producing VantageScore. Some 8 billion VantageScores were pulled last year, compared with 10 billion FICO scores, but the gulf is wider than those numbers suggest.