FICO Score vs. SoFi Coach: Credit Score Comparison Guide
By Janet Siroto
FICO Score® and SoFi Coach℠ both can share credit scores, but they determine the numbers in different ways, and their additional features vary. A person’s FICO Score can be checked for free in a number of ways, while with SoFi Coach, a no-cost money tracker with a built-in AI advisor, all SoFi users enjoy free access to their credit score. SoFi Coach provides additional benefits, such as aggregating financial details which can enhance budgeting and achieving short- and long-term money goals.
Delve into both of these financial tools to determine which one may fulfill your particular needs.
- Key Points
- • FICO Scores range from 300 to 850 and provide lenders with a snapshot of your creditworthiness based on data from the three major credit reporting agencies.
- • SoFi Coach is a free, AI-powered financial tool that provides users with their VantageScore 3.0 credit score from TransUnion®, updated on a weekly basis.
- • While FICO Scores are primarily used by lenders to assess credit application risks, SoFi Coach offers additional features like budget planning and real-time financial tracking.
- • FICO Scores can be accessed for free through various financial institutions, credit card providers, and websites like myFICO, though update frequencies differ between these sources.
- • SoFi Coach utilizes AI and financial planner expertise to provide personalized, chat-based guidance on managing finances, building credit, and achieving specific money goals.
Your money questions, answered.
What Is SoFi Coach?
SoFi Coach is an AI-powered money tracker and financial guide that is free to members via the SoFi app and website. It can provide users with their TransUnion VantageScore® 3.0 credit score and share information about how to maintain or build that important three-digit number. (The higher your score, the more favorable terms you will likely enjoy when accessing credit.)
In addition, SoFi Coach is able to mine data from 12,000-plus financial institutions to provide a real-time assessment of your financial status to enhance your understanding of your personal wealth and money habits. Also, its chat-based features can offer custom-tailored, conversational guidance on how to manage your finances efficiently, making it a powerful tool and guide. For example, you could ask SoFi Coach why your credit score dropped after a dispute. If you’re new to the credit-score process, you could ask what is the starting credit score?
Benefits of SoFi Coach
SoFi Coach offers a number of important benefits, including online budget planning and tracking of earnings, spending, and savings. To focus on the credit score-related upsides of accessing SoFi Coach, consider the following:
• Credit monitoring of your VantageScore 3.0 credit score, powered by TransUnion, and updated on a weekly basis
• Customized guidance about which moves you might make to maintain or build your creditworthiness
• Intel about which factors impact your credit score and how your score could be affected by specific financial moves. For instance, you might learn how a new loan or late payments impact your score, by how many points, and for how long.
What Is a FICO Score?
A FICO Score is a measure of how well a person uses credit. It ranges from 300 to 850 and is calculated by the proprietary FICO (Fair Isaac Corporation) model using data from the three major credit reporting agencies, which are Equifax®, Experian®, and TransUnion. Lenders can use this three-digit figure when assessing a credit application to glean insights into how well a person has repaid debts in the past. While the newest model from FICO is the FICO Score 10, lenders currently use the FICO Score 8 most often.
It’s worth noting that a FICO Score differs from the VantageScore. The commonly used VantageScore is a collaboration between the three major credit reporting agencies noted above. While the data points that the scores are pulled from are the same, these two scores can differ due to how they calculate a credit rating.
In terms of FICO Score, you can check your credit score for free in a variety of ways.
• The company behind FICO Scores offers a free credit score check on the myFICO website, which can provide monthly score updates based on Equifax data plus limited credit monitoring benefits.
• Many financial institutions, such as banks and credit card companies, provide their clients with free access to their FICO Scores via their mobile apps or websites. These scores are typically updated monthly.
• There is also a program called FICO Score Open Access, which over 200 financial institutions use to share FICO Scores for free with their customers and educate them about credit scores. Scores are often updated as soon as new information is received.
• A free account with Experian offers access to a person’s FICO Score 8, updated every time you log in to reflect the most recent data.
In these ways, you can access your FICO Score at no charge. Different programs may perform credit score updates at varying intervals.
Benefits of a FICO Score
One of the key benefits of a FICO Score is that it lets you know how well you have been managing credit and gives you a good idea of how lenders will rate your creditworthiness.
FICO reports that approximately 90% of lenders review FICO Scores when assessing an application for credit, making it an important tool. By monitoring your credit score, you can take steps to maintain or positively impact that number. Higher credit scores usually correlate with lower interest rates and can make it easier to get approved when applying to borrow money.
That said, a FICO Score is a single measure of one’s creditworthiness and doesn’t typically carry other money management benefits.
Recommended: “How Much Will My Credit Score Go Up?” Calculator
SoFi Coach vs FICO for Credit Scores
When comparing SoFI Coach vs. FICO for credit scores, it can be worthwhile to consider these points:
• FICO Scores are a measure of a person’s creditworthiness and can often be accessed for free. These scores can help lenders assess how likely a person is to repay their debt in a timely manner. Knowing where your three-digit FICO Score stands can help you maintain or build the number to borrow with the most favorable terms available to you. FICO offers free access to scores via their own website as well as through Experian and many financial institutions. How often scores are updated varies depending on how they are accessed.
• SoFI Coach provides SoFi users with free access to a different credit score, VantageScore, and uses TransUnion data, which is updated weekly. In addition to this, the chat-based financial guide taps AI that has been trained on the same toolkit used by financial planners to provide personalized advice on how to build credit and other topics. Learn more about its other features, described below.
SoFi Coach Advantages
To explore the advantages of SoFi Coach in more detail, consider these upsides:
• Provides answers to users’ questions, whether about how to lower credit card utilization or how to set and reach financial goals.
• Can aggregate data from more than 12,000 financial institutions to provide insights into a person’s financial standing and paths to enhancing it.
• Tracks earnings, spending, and savings and can offer personalized budgeting advice, including budget planners.
• Allows users to manage their money based on the chat. For example, a new savings Vault could be opened or a recurring transfer from savings to investing could be established.
Recommended: FICO vs. Credit Score
Tips to Maximize SoFi Coach Benefits
If you are using SoFi Coach or considering it, this advice can help you make the most of its benefits:
• Access your credit score weekly via SoFi Coach, and ask the tool which factors are impacting your score; how to maintain or positively impact your rating; and how long it takes to build credit.
• Get an in-depth look at your financial standing by connecting as many external accounts as you can (SoFi Coach can access more than 12,000 of them).
• Review how well your money management is tracking and ask for guidance on how to budget, spend, and save effectively.
• Have SoFi Coach review your financial goals and plans. For instance, it can offer insights into how much you should save for a down payment on a house, how to budget for that, and what kinds of terms you might qualify for.
• Use SoFi Coach to automate your finances, setting up an automatic transfer to savings, for example, so you can build an emergency fund or save to pay off a loan early. “Automating finances can not only be a smart money move, it could also alleviate some of your stress around payment deadlines,” says Brian Walsh, CFP® and Head of Advice & Planning at SoFi.
The Takeaway
FICO Score vs. SoFi Coach can each provide you with your credit score at no cost, but they use different models. Your FICO Score can be accessed in a variety of ways, such as via FICO itself, Experian, or many other financial institutions. SoFi Coach offers SoFi members the VantageScore 3.0, updated weekly, via the SoFi app or website. In addition, SoFi Coach delivers chat-based, customized credit insights and advice, along with a suite of other tracking and money management features, powered by AI.
Take control of your finances with SoFi Coach. You can easily view all of your accounts in one convenient dashboard: bank and investment balances, current debts, spending breakdowns, and credit score. Easily set up budgets and spot upcoming bills. And get personalized insights on everyday money questions and take action with Coach chat, the AI guide that’s powered by the playbooks of SoFi Financial Planners, so its guidance comes from expert knowledge.
FAQ
What are the main benefits of SoFi Coach?
Among the main benefits of SoFi Coach are an aggregated view of all of your connected financial accounts (SoFi Coach can connect with over 12,000); personalized chat-based guidance on credit scores, spending, saving, and debt management; and credit score tracking, all at no cost.
How much does a FICO score cost?
A FICO Score can be obtained for free in a variety of ways: from the myFICO site, via many financial institutions, and from Experian.
How does a FICO score work?
A FICO score works by using an algorithm to pull data from your credit reports and then generate a three-digit number, ranging from 300 to 850. This score provides potential lenders with a snapshot of how likely you are to repay funds that you borrow.
What is the difference between a FICO score and SoFi Coach credit score?
A FICO score and SoFi Coach credit score are both reflections of how well an individual has managed credit, but they use different credit-scoring models. A FICO score is based on a system developed by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), while SoFi Coach uses the VantageScore 3.0 model, based on information from TransUnion, one of the big three credit bureaus.
Is SoFi Coach free?
SoFi Coach is available for free to users of the SoFi app and website.
How to sign up for SoFi Coach?
When you log in to the SoFi app or website, you automatically have access to SoFi Coach. You can then activate the free credit score monitoring service, and you’ll be able to connect your external financial accounts. When those steps are completed, you can begin using the SoFi Coach chat feature for personalized guidance to help you manage your credit profile and money.
