What FICO credit score do Romanians have and how can it be improved by 10 points in less than a month

The average value of the FICO score in Romania is 635, according to a Volt analysis performed on a sample of over 50,000 users of the money transfer application. Young people aged 18-25 face the greatest difficulties in accessing loans, as they have the lowest FICO score of 534. Microcredits paid on time can help them prove a good payment behavior and thus, increase their FICO score, a score identical to the solvency score of the Credit Bureau.

The FICO score is an algorithm used internationally, mainly by banks, to determine the degree of risk for a person who applies for a loan, and is collected by the Credit Bureau. This score is the main factor that determines the type of credit for which the person in question qualifies. Its limits are between 300 and 850 and it is determined by several factors, such as the payment history, the number of score queries, or the total number of accounts. The FICO score can be queried for free in the Volt application and does not affect the credit score, as happens when the Credit Bureau is queried by banks.

The average value of the FICO score in Romania is 635, according to a Volt analysis, a mobile application for instant money transfer, performed on a segment of its 50,000 users. Men have a better FICO score overall, with an average of 642, while the average score for women is 603.

36.6% of VOLT users have a FICO score higher than 700, which means a low risk of default in the future. On the opposite end are the least conscientious in the payment of installments, 16.25% of users, with a FICO score below 500.

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These people have a medium to high risk of default in the future and have recorded 3 or more unpaid installments in their credit history.

People with high incomes, of over 11,000 lei, have the best FICO score, of over 700, while people with a net monthly income of less than 3000 lei have a FICO score of 590. Young people have the lowest FICO score, of 534, for the age category 18 – 25 years old, and people from the age category 41 – 50 years old have the best FICO score, of 684.

From the top 5 counties in Romania, the people of Arad occupy the first position, having the best payers, with an average value of FICO score of 697, followed by Volt users from Ilfov, Bucharest, Brașov, and Suceava. On the last place are those from Caras-Severin, with the lowest average value of the FICO score of 473.

“Those with a high FICO score receive the most advantageous loans. For young people, who generally have low incomes and a non-existent credit history, the chances of accessing a higher value loan, such as a real estate loan, are very low. A quick solution to prove their good payment behavior and implicitly increase their FICO score is to access microcredits, which they pay on time. In Volt, they can access microcredits directly from the application and then monitor their free FICO score, without affecting their credit score “, says Radu Ciorbă, founder of Volt.

Why is the FICO important

Demand in the real estate market has been growing this year. After a year of spending more time at home, Romanians have experienced that living together is not the most comfortable. Families have started looking for bigger homes, with an increased interest in houses on the ground, and young people have started to want to break away from their parents’ house, a moment that in 2019 happened only at the age of 28 (Eurostat data). If 41% of young Romanians aged between 25 and 34 lived with their parents in 2019, compared to countries such as Denmark or Finland where the average is below 10% or the EU average of 26 years (Eurostat data), this year certainly forced the percentage to fall in the context of a future economic recovery.

Case Study

Mihai is 26 years old, lives in Bucharest, and works for a delivery company for a net salary of 3,000 lei. His FICO score is 484. He currently lives with his parents but has reached the stage where he wants to move into his own home. He already has serious plans for the future, which include marriage and a child, so he is determined to buy a two-room apartment in a good area. He went to the bank but all he could get was a loan for a small studio.

How can Mihai improve his FICO score

Mihai took through the Volt application a ‘Crab’ loan, of 500 lei, from Ocean Credit, which he returned within 15 days.

The screens below show how the credit score fluctuates during the various stages of a loan.

• Phase 1 – Prior to contracting, the FICO credit score from which it started was 484.
• Phase 2 – During the development of the loan, immediately after taking out the loan, the new credit score decreased by a few points. At this stage, Mihai had a FICO score of 479.
• Phase 3 – When repaying the loan, although meeting the due date is the key point in improving the score, it is not visible immediately after Mihai has repaid the loan.
• Phase 4 – 15 days after refund. Mihai returned the amount borrowed on the due date, and now has a new FICO 494 credit score, 10 points higher than the one he started from.

“Depending on the value of the loan, the FICO score can increase by 10-20 points. However, it is important that young people and all others who seek to increase their FICO score in this way pay attention to the other important conditions: the rest of other loans are also paid on time, there is a break of at least one month between the accessed loans and have a debt balance of no more than 30% of the credit line. We encourage the users of the application to use the microcredits intelligently, only when they need them, and not to owe more than they can return ”, adds Radu.

Mihai continued with the same lending behavior and smartly decided to wait a little longer, in order to improve his FICO score through short-term microcredits, to qualify for the loan he wanted.