The new score will generally penalize consumers less for one-time mistakes, such as paying a bill late. On the other hand, the new model is harsher on those people that carry very high debt to credit ratios.

Most lenders will continue to use standard FICO credit scoring methodology for now, but consumers should expect that the FICO 08 score methodology to become more frequently used over time. As such, it is a good idea to take a hard look at your current debt load and making plans to pay it down if you anticipate the need for additional credit in the near future.

Equifax is the second major credit bureau to adopt the new scoring methodology from FICO. TransUnion began offering the score back in January. It is unlikely that Experian, the remaining major bureau, will be offering FICO 08 any time soon as the two companies are currently involved in an ongoing lawsuit.

The new FICO 08 score was created provide more accurate scoring for those consumers with limited or damaged credit histories who may represent a larger risk to lenders than those consumers with more established credit. According to Fair Isaac, the net result of the evolving score is that consumers with more established credit histories should see slight increases in their credit score when calculated using this new methodology.

The catch is that it will likely be a very long time until this scoring system is widely in use. Lenders typically test any score changes extensively before they begin using them for important lending decisions. Additionally, TransUnion is the only one of the three credit bureaus that is offering the FICO 08 score as an option for lenders. Equifax is expected to begin offering the FICO 08 laster this year. It is unlikely that Experian will be offering this new score anytime soon as the company is currently engaged in litigation with Fair Isaac.

The original FICO score will continue to be the score that lenders use most for the foreseeable future. Equifax offers a free FICO score when you sign up for a free trial of credit monitoring service. You can learn more about Equifax and other credit report monitoring services at NextAdvisor.com.

To learn more about LifeLock or other identity theft protection services, see our reviews and comparison chart. And see our credit report and score services section for more information about the three credit bureaus, including TransUnion.

Like all lenders Sallie Mae reports account history information for all their borrowers to all three of the major credit bureaus including Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. In the most recent data transfer an error caused about 10% of all accounts, or about one million total borrowers, to appear delinquent.

Sallie Mae realized the issue and contacted all three credit bureaus. Equifax had already posted the information the impacted individual's accounts which immediately lowered their credit scores. Experian or TransUnion scores were not impacted.

The issue has been resolved and the Equifax credit scores have been restored for impacted individuals. Those who believe they may have been impacted are encouraged to contact Sallie Mae directly at 1-888-2-sallie. Sallie Mae will also provide credit references to impacted consuers upon request.

"We certainly and fully understand the importance of one's credit rating and we worked with urgency to resolve this situation," Said Sallie Mae spokesman Tom Joyce.

Those consumers that utilize a credit report monitoring service would have received immediate alerts when these changes were posted to their Equifax credit report and score. To learn more about credit report monitoring services we suggest visiting our credit report monitoring service reviews and comparison.

Q:With respect to the Identity Theft company comparisons that you provide, Identity Guard states the following during an enrollment process:

As of April 2, 2008, the Credit Bureau Fraud Alert feature will no longer be offered through your Identity Guard service.

It seems to me that without this important feature, they are no longer worth the higher cost of $14.99 cost per month.

Have the other services such as LifeLock also discontinued this feature?

A: You are correct in that Identity Guard is in the process of discontinuing their fraud alert feature. They are the only service that we are aware of that is planning to discontinue fraud alerts. LifeLock most certainly still allows their members to set fraud alerts as a part of their identity theft protection service.

Identity Guard will continue to provide three bureau credit report monitoring that will allow you to monitor chanegs to your credit report with Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. This is a service that LifeLock does not provide, although LifeLock will give you one free credit report per year as part of the annual credit report program.

If fraud alerts are important to you, and we feel that fraud alerts are a very important part of preventative identity theft protection, then LifeLock is the best service from our perspective.

FICO is a household name that is synonymous with credit scores, particularly to anyone that has ever applied for a home loan, auto loan or credit card. FICO estimates that 90% of major banks use their scoring methodology to analyze the credit worthiness of consumers.

The new FICO score, officially called FICO 08, was created to more accurately predict the credit risk of an individual. It will be more lenient on people who may have had a few credit slip ups in the past but otherwise have had fairly responsible credit practices and much more harsh on those who repeatedly make credit mistakes.

FICO provided these very helpful examples of how the new FICO 08 score may impact different types of people based off of their credit history.

This is great news for consumers that are actively working to improve their credit and adopting healthy credit habits and even more reason for those people that have habitually poor credit to take moves to improve.

The FICO 08 score also makes it extremely important to have a full grasp on the contents of your credit report as inaccuracies could cost you once the new formula begins calculating scores. The simplest and most effective way to get a full grasp of your current credit profile is to sign up for a credit report monitoring service. These services will give you access to your credit report, credit score and alert you to any changes on your credit report.

All of the credit bureaus, including Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, provide these services and we have reviewed and compared all these credit report monitoring services for the benefit of our readers.

These sites have domain names very similar to those of the credit bureaus. For example, freecreditrepotrt.com may accidentally be reached by consumers that are attempting to visit Experian's FreeCreditReport.com. While most of these sites likely pose little threat to consumers, it is still important to be fully aware who is operating the website you are visiting before you engage in any business dealings.

One simple way to ensure that you are on the website you intend to be is to check the privacy policy and/or contact us links which are typically at the bottom of the web page. If these items aren't present or seem suspicious, it is a good idea to move along.

We here at NextAdvisor deal directly with all the major credit report monitoring services and make sure that all links on our site are valid and directing to reputable service providers. You can click on any of the links below to visit the official websites of each of the credit report monitoring services that we have reviewed:

• Identity Guard
• Equifax
• ProtectMyId by Experian
• MyFICO
• FreeCreditReport.com
• TrueCredit 3 Bureau
• Transunion

The new credit report format consolidates important information upfront and more detailed information in the interior sections of the report. According to Equifax:

Under the new format, the front page of the credit report will now provide a detailed summary of a consumer's credit history, including accounts, debt- to-credit ratios, account age, and potential negative credit histories — all on one page. Each section also contains a brief explanation for consumers to help them better understand the information.

The new easy to read format is currently available on the Equifax credit report and will be available on the Equifax 3-in-1 Credit Report, which includes information from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, in early 2008.

We encourage all of our readers to sign up for a credit report monitoring service to help keep tabs on your credit health. Fore more information on Equifax and other credit report monitoring services you can read our in-depth reviews and comparison.