The check digits enable the sending bank (or its customer) to perform a sanity check of the routing destination and account number from a single string of data at the time of data entry.
Generally, interest rates on FHA-backed mortgages are competitive with conventional mortgages. A quick scan of interest rates for 2012 reveals that FHA mortgages feature rates of about 3.33 percent. The FHA states that the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed loan on a single-family home is about 4.06 percent.
The average credit score for all FHA purchases in 2016 was 686, which is well above the minimum 580 score. FHA loans also require a down payment of 3.5 percent, as well as both an up-front mortgage insurance premium and monthly mortgage insurance, which now runs for the life of the loan.