Retail credit
What is FICO score bands?
FICO score bands are ranges of FICO credit scores that lenders and consumers use to group borrowers into broad credit risk tiers.
FICO scores are credit scores developed by Fair Isaac Corporation from credit bureau data. Base FICO scores range from 300 to 850, with higher scores indicating lower predicted risk of serious delinquency. Commonly cited consumer bands are roughly 800 to 850 exceptional, 740 to 799 very good, 670 to 739 good, 580 to 669 fair and below 580 poor. Some industry-specific versions use a 250 to 900 range.
Lenders group applicants and accounts into score bands to set approval rules, pricing, credit limits and reporting tiers. Labels such as super-prime, prime, near-prime and subprime are widely used, but cutoffs vary by lender, product and data source. The CFPB, for example, has used tiers with subprime below 620 and super-prime at 720 and above.
Score bands are not universal definitions, so comparisons require knowing which score version, bureau and cutoffs were used. Scores predict relative risk, not absolute default rates, and the default rate within a band can shift with economic conditions. Relying on score alone ignores income, debt burden and the specifics of the loan.
