Established Contributor
Posts: 573
Registered: ‎10-21-2012
AAoA - Conflicting info on FICO report

Hey credit gurus,

I'm confused by some seemingly conflicting info in my FICO report.   On page 2, "Understanding your FICO Score" it says:



You have a short credit history.

Your FICO score measures the age of your oldest account and the average age of your accounts. In your case, either your oldest account was opened recently or the average age of your accounts is relatively low. People that do not frequently open new accounts and have longer credit histories generally pose less risk to lenders. Therefore, as your credit history lengthens and you pay your bills on time, this factor should have less of a negative impact on your score.
But then it shows:

Your oldest account was opened19 Years, 2 Months ago, Average age of your accounts11 years

FICO High Achievers [?]opened their oldest account 19 years ago, on average.
Most FICO High Achievers [?]have an average age of accounts between 6 and 12 years.



So, it looks like I have a reasonable AAoA, right?  Why is it listing that as a negative?




Starting Score: TU:584 | EQ 584
Goal Score: 780 across the board

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Valued Contributor
Posts: 1,209
Registered: ‎05-10-2012
Re: AAoA - Conflicting info on FICO report

It could be based on the number of total accounts?  No idea, since my oldest is 6.5, and average is 5 and I'm pretty sure it gave me a 3 as well

  • Current: EQ FICO 672, TU FICO 695, EX FICO 698 | Starting Score: 525 (05/2012)
  • Starting total revolving credit: $1100 | Current total revolving credit: $18,300
  • Inquiries (12 Months): EQ 5 TU 3 EX 5 | Most Recent: 7/13/2013
2013 Accomplishments: Purchased home w/ FHA @ 3.49%,
Financed car @ 5.49% w/ DCU, Added DCU VIsa, Chase Freedom,
AMEX Gold and BCE, Lowe's

AMEX Gold: NPSL Chase Freedom: $5000 Lowe's: $6000 DCU Visa: $2000 Capital One: $2000 WalMart: $1700 AMEX BCE: $1000
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 32,794
Registered: ‎08-04-2007
Re: AAoA - Conflicting info on FICO report

Based on the scoring bucket you are in, on average, your history is younger than most.