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Internal Scoring?

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EC341
Established Member

Internal Scoring?

Hello;

 

What is the point of FICO scores if banks are going to use their own Internal Scoring? I called the Citibank back door no. and after much back and forth about a cli denial I was told that they don't look at my fico score of 778, that they use their own internal scoring. I then asked what that meant since that is what will be reported on the letter I am to receive which tells me nothing. After waiting 10 minutes she comes back and says basically I don't use the card enough. It's a 2k line and I just paid off 1800. in August. So how I asked is that not using the card enough, it's at 180. now and I've had the card for 2 years. At the same time ( I did them together) we got approved for another one of their cards, not as old and 3k line. I mentioned this and she basically had no answer.  We have a 20K Amex card, a 10K BOA card and some dept. stores and care credit. What I think it is is that I don't work outside the home and this card is in my name only whereas the other card my husband is the primary. I only have one dept. store card in my name only. But why not say that.

 

Also, the email you get states: "Our decision was based in whole or in part on information already on file with us from one of the consumer-reporting agencies listed below. Please note that the agency played no part in our decision and will be unable to explain the reason your request was denied."

 

Isn't that contradictory?

Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
TheConductor
Established Contributor

Re: Internal Scoring?

That sentence at the bottom just sounds like legalese for "We soft-pulled you recently so we didn't bother doing a fresh hard pull of your credit report".

 

Anyway, the point of FICO scores is a) many lenders do use them and b) they are often a component of these "internal" scores.  It's just that the internal scoring may involve adjusting your FICO up or down based on other information that FICO does not take into account (e.g. net worth, diversity of non-credit accounts, average monthly spending throughput, frequency of calling customer service, type of employment, etc.)

Starting: EQ 622 (myFICO 7/7/12), EX 696 (TU FAKO 8/14/12), TU 621 (CK TransRisk 7/24/12), Total CL $1k on 2 TLs
Current: EQ 709 (CCT 2/4/15), EX 704 (CCT 2/4/15) , TU 702 (CCT 2/4/15), Total CL $110.3k on 14 TLs Goal: 740+ x3
My Wallet: Amex BCP $30k, Chase United Explorer $16k, Amex SPG $13.5k, Barclaycard Ring MC $12.5k, Chase CSP VS $12.2k, Discover it $10.5k, C1 Venture VS $6.5k, Chase Slate $3.5k, Amex Hilton Surpass $2k, Barclaycard Apple V $2k, Chase Freedom V $1100, BoA Cash Rewards V $500, Citi BestBuy $500
My Loans: Prosper $25k/36mo, Prosper $17k/36mo
My Business: Chase Ink VS $5k, Amex BRG NPSL (> 10k),
Message 2 of 13
EC341
Established Member

Re: Internal Scoring?

Thanks for your reply but the contradictory statement says the agency played no part in their decision ie; don't go complaining to them since it won't matter. It's all quite a little scam they have going when you think about it. They can say whatever they want and just use the broad term internal scoring.

Message 3 of 13
Link2k
Valued Member

Re: Internal Scoring?

The agency has nothing to do with approving or denying you. Why would you complain to a CRA if you were denied. That statement is telling you they softed and that CRA's don't make credit decisions they simply provide a credit file.

 

In general when you attempt a recon explaining why you want a CLI and why you deserve one is more successful than bringing up your FICO. I don't even understand why your FICO would be part of the conversation unless they said your score was too low. Credit decisions are more than simple you have score A you qualify for X.

Message 4 of 13
Cdnewmanpac
Established Contributor

Re: Internal Scoring?

You are misreading the sentence. It is stating that the consumer reporting agency that supplied your credit information was not involved in the decision to grant or deny you credit. This sentence appears somewhere on all denial letters from all issuers. So you can't call Transunion (or whomever) and ask why you were denied a Citi CLI, since they won't know and weren't involved in the decision.

 

Bottom line, they declined you based on internal algorithms, not based on an externally generated score. Just about every issuer does this to some extent. Citi has a very different internal algorithm than Amex- Amex is spend-centric, Citi is balance-centric. My wife carried a balance of 15k on one of her Citi cards after our wedding and in the following year, they gave her auto CLIs of 5 and 10k after not getting any CLIs for the previous 10 years. OTOH, Amex keeps denying her CLIs because she took advantage of a BT offer on her clear a few years ago and is still slowly paying off that balance. Same exact activity pattern, Citi rewards and Amex punishes. 

In wallet: Ink Plus 10k, AMEX TE 25k. In bag: CSP 16k, USAA WMC 15k, Hyatt 13k, United MPE 12k, AMEX HHonors 3k. In SD: Cap 1 QS 5k, Discover IT 7k. FICO 08 says my EQ is now 844, was 510 in 2010.
Message 5 of 13
Uborrow-Upay
Valued Contributor

Re: Internal Scoring?

That is a beautiful analysis.

 

Well done.

 

 

 

Message 6 of 13
migliogiorni
Established Contributor

Re: Internal Scoring?

Yes thank you wish we could understand all CC Co's  like that.

 

BOA: 8.9k
CSP: 5k
Discover: 5k
Citi TY Preferd: 5k
Wally: 5k
JCP: 4.9k
citiForward: 4.7k
ChaseFreedom: 4.5k
DFS: 2k
Message 7 of 13
EC341
Established Member

Re: Internal Scoring?

"Why would you complain to a CRA if you were denied"

 

I didn't. As stated I called Citibank.

Message 8 of 13
EC341
Established Member

Re: Internal Scoring?

"It is stating that the consumer reporting agency that supplied your credit information was not involved in the decision to grant or deny you credit."

 

Yes, I copied exactly that which they sent to me in their email.

 

We have the opposite, Amex rewards, Citi punishes.

Message 9 of 13
Uborrow-Upay
Valued Contributor

Re: Internal Scoring?

EC341, it's kinda like when you get "pre-approved" offers in the mail.

 

Nothing is "pre-approved" as far as actually getting a card or a loan.  The pre-approval is the company's decision to send the mailer.

 

The point is that the creditor makes a decision on its own, and the credit score (regardless of flavor) is just one aspect of that decison making process.

 

No matter what happens with a credit card or any other account, you are you.  Don't sweat it.  And don't try to be a lawyer, either.

 

They need you a heckuva lot more than you need them.

 

 

Have a nice evening, and forget the email.

 

 

 

Uborrow-Upay

 

Message 10 of 13
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