FICO, an acronym for Fair Isaac Corporation (traded publicly under the symbol FIC) often refers to the best-known credit score in the United States which is calculated using mathematical formulae developed by this company. This score is one of the most important factors in obtaining credit in the United States. For institutions that use scores as a factor in their lending decisions, scores below certain numbers (typically set by each lender's risk management department) may result in denial of credit, or credit being offered at a higher interest rate.