Some may call it a war, others may say healthy competion. In either case, you the consumer may lose. Reports show the over 37 million consumers have credit scores of 660 or less. With that rating under the new Vantage Score that maybe a D or F credit.

There is a new score on the market now that may change the landscape of how lenders provide loans and at what it will cost you to buy a home or car. I say this is a war. FICO the nation leader is credit score model now find themselve is a battle with former clients. ( The three credit reporting agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian)

A numerical score is then developed, typically ranging from 300 to 850, with the low end of the scale indicating a poor credit risk. This can tell a lender whether or not he'll lend to you. For example, a credit score of 620 is frequently cited as a "cutoff point" for loans which can be funded by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Below that, and you're usually off into the private "sub-prime" market, where rates are higher, although Fannie and Freddie can do offer some 'credit improver' mortgages where FICO scores can be as low as 580.

What's in your FICO score?

According to Fair, Isaac, the breakdown of your FICO score is as follows:

• 35% of the score is determined by payment histories on your credit accounts, with recent history weighted a bit more heavily than the distant past;
• 30% is based upon the amount of debt you have outstanding with all creditors;
• 15% is produced on the basis of how long you've been a credit user (a longer history is better if you've always made timely payments);
• 10% is comprised of very recent history, based on your efforts to obtain loans or credit lines in the past few months;
• 10% is calculated from the mix of credit you hold, including installment loans (like car loans), leases, mortgages, credit cards, etc.

VantageScores differ somewhat than FICO scores, most notably that they use both a letter grade (A-F, like a report card) as well as a numeric scale ranging from 501-990. Introduced in March 2006, it's too soon to tell how serious a competitor to FICO the VantageScore will be, but you should expect to hear more about it as time rolls forward.

What's in your Vantage Score?

According to VantageScore, LLC the breakout of your Vantage score is as follows:

• 32% of the score is determined by payment histories on your credit accounts;
• 23% is based upon the amount of total credit available in all your accounts which you are currently utilizing;
• 15% is the portion of your score your outstanding balances contribute;
• 13% is determined by the "depth of credit" in your profile (the kinds of credit you hold and how long you've held them);
• 10% is calculated from the number of recent accounts you've opened, and how many credit inquiries have been generated from your search for those loans or lines of credit;
• 7% is the weight applied to the total dollar amount of credit you could potentially utilize.