From “Marketplace Tech”: How credit scores shape our financial reality

With government aid and other pandemic relief, people have generally been able to pay down debt and keep up with bills. But the lack of additional assistance could mean a wave of missed payments is about to hit. tolgart/Getty Images

Plus, FICO vs. VantageScore

Credit scores matter — a lot. They matter if you want to buy a car, a house and sometimes even if you want a job.

In a recent deep dive, we covered the history of credit scores, how they work and whether it’s time to rethink how we measure creditworthiness. But Kimberly still had questions.

So she and the “Marketplace Tech” team took an even closer look. Today, we’re bringing you an excerpt from their series “The Score.” Get ready to get smart (and take notes) on what the algorithms behind your credit scores get wrong, the difference between your FICO and your VantageScore and what happened when a financial planner tried to trick the system to boost her score.

If you have a question about credit scores or anything else, leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org.

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