Opened $200 secured Citibank card...Transunion and Equifax scores DROP

[TimeLBK]

Opened $200 secured Citibank card...Transunion and Equifax scores DROP 49 and 60 points respectively. Does this happen a lot? My Utilization on my credit is 8% total, so I don't know why?

[Anonymous]

It happens a lot if you're relying on Credit Karma which doesn't give you FICO scores but some entertainment-only number called Vantage Score that no consumer lender looks at or cares about.

Where are you pulling your scores from?  Website?

[TimeLBK]

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@Anonymous wrote:

It happens a lot if you're relying on Credit Karma which doesn't give you FICO scores but some entertainment-only number called Vantage Score that no consumer lender looks at or cares about.

Where are you pulling your scores from?  Website?

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Credit Karma

[Anonymous]

Credit Karma scores are useless for gauging credit worthiness.

Some of the companies providing those Vantage Scores we're penalized millions of dollars this year for telling people that their scores were useful for credit purposes.

To see useful scores, make sure the score says FICO. You can get a free FICO score at creditscorecard.com or pay $1 to creditchecktotal.com for all 3 scores but make sure to cancel the trial right after.

[Meanmchine]

Congrats on starting your credit journey with Citibank. They have a good lineup of cards that will suit your needs for decades