From Car Loan Wiki

The name “FICO” refers to the Fair Isaac Corporation (founded by Bill Fair and Earl Isaac in 1956). The FICO score is the result of a program that analyzes your credit and converts it into a three digit number. This number ranges from 300 to 850. According to the FICO web site, FICO scores are based on 5 general categories:

Payment history - 35%

Amounts owed - 30%

Length of credit history - 15%

New credit - 10%

Types of credit used - 10%

Higher credit scores mean lower interest rates charged by banks and other lenders while lower credit scores mean higher interest rates charged by these same institutions.