topic Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

hame152 — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:38:45 GMT

This is my first post here and I am trying to figure out why there is such a big difference in credit score here and what is reported to lenders. I have had some credit issues but I am working on rebuilding. So I applied for a CC which was approved, but when they sent me my paperwork it advised my Credit Score from Equifax is 586 (9-11-2012). But my credit score here from Equifax is report 658(9-12-2012). Does anyone know why such a big difference or should there ever be that big a difference. Thank you for any assistance in understanding.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

llecs — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 02:43:16 GMT

Assuming nothing changed your FICO, look at the source of the CC's score. While most use a FICO, some do not. They'll sometimes use an internal score proprietary to them. If the score does mention a FICO, then make sure it also came from Equifax (e.g. make sure they didn't pull EX or TU which would be a different score). Finally, if it is a FICO and from the same CRA, then it's possible they pulled a CC-enhanced FICO which weighs your past CC experience over all other TLs.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

hame152 — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:19:40 GMT

I checked and it is from the same credit reporting agency as I get my score from here. The scores are less then 24 hrs apart.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

llecs — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 01:27:55 GMT

That narrows out report changes, so the CC's score would either be their own in-house non-FICO score, an older or newer EQ FICO, or a CC-enhanced FICO. I vote for the latter.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

cashnocredit — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 02:21:20 GMT

More details help determine the type of score. Did they specifiy a range? Did they say it was a FICO score?

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

Spoolingbyu — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:39:20 GMT

I was wondering the same thing. I pulled my TU score on here and it was 598. I applied for a Walmart card and got denied less than 10 minutes after getting a score from here. They report my TU score as 401. Maybe it's just me but that seems like an awfully large difference.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

Shogun — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 00:52:41 GMT

Are you sure it was TU? When I applied for a Walmart card they pulled EX. And there was a considerable difference between my TU and EX.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

badgerviper — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:17:21 GMT

I have a huge difference too. Nordstrom pulled EQ at 657, I pulled my own EQ from Equifax directly and got 714, and myFICO gives my EQ score as 763. Kinda sucks when I think my EQ score is 763 and I apply for a card that I should get with that score then get DENIED :/

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

Spoolingbyu — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:28:27 GMT

Directly from them:

Your Credit Score: 401

Date: 09/22/2012

Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 620.

Key factors that adversely affected your credit score:

HIGH RATIO OF REVOLVING ACCTS OPENED LAST YEAR TO ALL REVOLVING ACCTS Only one revolving account with a $200 limit of the two accounts I have. I did notice on my report it showed a high balance of $191.00. Which when ever I use the card I always pay it the same day. Maybe they reported my balance the same day before the payment was processed and just boned me until next month.

TOO FEW ACCOUNTS CURRENTLY PAID AS AGREED There are only 2 accounts and both are up to date and never missed a payment in the 2 years they have been open.

SINCERELY,

CREDIT MANAGER

GE Capital Retail Bank

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

llecs — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 02:04:15 GMT

Spoolingbyu wrote:

Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 620.

It's not a FICO. They use their own internal score to approve/deny folks.

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

localuser — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:02:35 GMT

llecs wrote:
Spoolingbyu wrote:

Scores range from a low of 300 to a high of 620.

It's not a FICO. They use their own internal score to approve/deny folks.

this is correct I called them on it the other day. I was a little peeved since my TU which I bought from here is 670

Re: Why big difference of Equifax Credit Score here and when I applied for a CC

cashnocredit — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 17:52:03 GMT

llecs wrote:
That narrows out report changes, so the CC's score would either be their own in-house non-FICO score, an older or newer EQ FICO, or a CC-enhanced FICO. I vote for the latter.

Until recently I would have thought the same thing. About a week ago the CFPB released a report that analyzed an extremely large number of consumer reports in order to determine the difference between the available scores lenders use as well as so called "educational scores" aka FAKOs.

One particular portion of the study outcome was that generic FICO scores correlated almost perfectly (.99) with credit card enhanced FICO scores of the same generation.

Here's the thread which includes a link to the pdf. It's perhaps now the gold standard when someone is confused about credit score models.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/CFPB-released-a-report-comparing-FAKOs-FICOs-and-VantageScore/td-p/1616506

It helps to have had a statistics course but a fair amount can be discerned from the prologue and text.