February 12, 2020 — Issue Brief

It’s been one of the most confounding economic paradoxes of the COVID-19 pandemic – why have credit scores remained steady, or even increased, despite the financial ruin caused by record unemployment, with entire industries such as restaurants and tourism decimated? The average FICO score has risen from 703 to 711, while delinquencies for credit card accounts have actually been lower than pre-pandemic.