Bankrate has an interview with Craig Watts, public affairs manager at Fair Isaac Corp., the creator of the popular FICO credit score. Craig talks about credit myths and strategies for people who are looking to raise their credit scores. Nothing terribly ground-breaking, but we know our readers tend to obsess over their credit scores, so it’s good to get some info straight from the horse’s mouth.

One interesting part of the interview delt with new “alternative” credit scores:

Something right around the corner and clearly here to stay are “alternative credit scores.” These are scores, such as the FICO Expansion score, that lenders can use to help assess the risk of a consumer who has had no credit relationships. It could be a teenager applying for credit for the first time, a recent immigrant, a spouse whose partner is gone for whatever reason and has never had credit in his or her own name. Now lenders are beginning to use alternative credit scores in larger and larger numbers. So, for consumers who are just starting out managing credit, the day may soon arrive when instead of filling out long applications and expecting high interest rates and low credit limits, consumers may be treated with the same speed and convenience as the rest of the people who already have an established credit history and a good credit rating.

Neat, we get a lot of complaints about this.

Credit Scores Demystified [Bankrate]

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