FICO isn’t the only number used to determine your credit risk — the score that counts is the one your lender uses. There is no single credit score number — the compilers of the widely accepted FICO Credit Score allow lenders to customize their system, so different lenders produce different scores.

Free FICO Scores have become more available to consumers since 2013, when Fair Isaac Corporation announced its FICO Score Open Access Program, which gave banks the right to share a FICO Score with consumers. Additionally, banks claim the free FICO Scores have increased customer loyalty.

Start by doing a credit checkup — you can monitor your credit yourself by requesting a free report once a year from each of the credit bureaus through www.annualcreditreport.com but the free report won’t include your credit score, you’ll pay about $8 to get the credit bureau’s proprietary number.

There is a common misconception that when two people marry their credit histories become one the minute the two tie the knot. This is only partially true. When two people marry, each retains his or her individual credit history up to that point.

A new credit scoring model will potentially boost scores for many credit applicants and help establish credit for millions of people who previously had little or no credit history. The new scoring model will be used in the latest version of the VantageScore, the credit score created by the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.