Lenders see the millions of American consumers without credit scores as a risky group to be avoided. But they might actually be much safer than lenders think.

Consumers with short credit histories are unable to obtain FICO scores, the main credit score lenders use. They may be immigrants or young people who have not had time to build credit histories, or others who haven't had an active account in the past six months. And there are certainly many of them — at least 64 million.

Because they lack extensive histories of repaying loans, lenders have a hard time deciding if they're good credit risks.

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VantageScore, a credit scoring company, says it solves that problem by using alternative records, such as rent, utility bills and public records, and by looking at 24 months of credit history rather than the typical six months.

Using that information and a model developed by the three major credit bureaus — Experian, Equifax and TransUnion — VantageScore says it can create nontraditional credit scores for 30 million to 35 million people who don't have scores.

"The unscoreables are a big population and in today's rather conservative credit climate they're having a hard time finding mainstream credit," VantageScore CEO Barrett Burns, tells CNNMoney.

About a third of that group, some 10 million have excellent credit scores. Many of those consumers are homeowners and have professional jobs or are retired.

"It really surprised me at how good looking these consumers are — from job characteristics to home characteristics. I don't believe any of us knew how big this audience was and how attractive they are," Burns notes.

"If you told a lender out there, 'Hey, we flipped over a rock and found 35 million new customers,' they would be very interested, and that's what VantageScore is doing," John Ulzheimer, a credit expert at CreditSesame.com, tells CNNMoney.

The VantageScore can count a credit line that's open for just month and takes 24 months of credit activity into account, whereas the FICO score won't count a credit line unless it's open for at least six months.

The latest edition of VantageScore is a substantial improvement over previous versions, according to Forbes. VantageScore says it has improved both the quality and quantity of data, leading to more accurate risk assessments.

However, lenders have been slow to adopt the new scoring system, Forbes notes. Although it's gaining popularity, VantageScore still has only a small market share compared with the FICO score, which remains the market leader.

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