As banks tighten their lending standards, one number is playing an increasingly critical role in determining the financial fortunes of consumers: the credit score.

Lenders use them to decide whether to extend credit and at what interest rate. As lenders demand higher scores, more Americans are having trouble getting loans.

Others aren’t getting loans at all because their scores have dropped. They may have lost their jobs and not kept up with credit card and mortgage payments, or in some cases card companies have taken adverse actions against them. Eager to mitigate risks, card issuers have closed accounts or slashed credit lines, leaving customers with less available credit. Customers who have used up much of their credit then are closer to maxed out, which further hurts their scores.

To add to their crisis, people who try to take matters in hand and pay to find out their credit scores discover that it can be difficult to learn the score that lenders actually use to evaluate them. (Read more at: The Washington Post)

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