Community feedback about Experian's decision to discontinue offering FICO scores on myFICO

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The era where credit dominates commerce is drawing to a close.  Oh, credit will probably survive, but at a much lower level, and far less accessibly.  Once all the fiat money the government is using to prop up the banks dries up, we'll go back to a cash economy.  20% down will get you a house, regardless of FICO score.  Other consumer goods, like cars, you'll pay cash for. 

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Highly possible that the availability of credit will be drastically curtailed from where it was before this collapse, so your "pay cash or don't buy" practice may be the way to go. But I would not kid myself about the impact a good score will have in allowing you to do certain things (like get a job, insurance, adoption, security clearances, etc).

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@Anonymous wrote:

So I say let Experian keep their super-secret scores.  I've got no skin in the credit game anymore.  By 2019 (which is when my credit score will recover from the judgment going onto it), I figure my standing with my neighbors and community will count for far more than the opinion of whatever, if anything, is left of Experian.

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I wish you were right...but I think that for mortgages, especially, a borrower's score will see a renewed level of importance. The "sub prime" debacle will create/has created a pendulum effect on lending decisions and underwriting guidelines. Thus, the focus will be on approving only the most "qualified" candidates, with a lower weighting placed on the downpayment. This is as much a PR move as it is a responsible lending initiative. When banks can say, in an annual report, after a few years, "Our mortgage default rate for 2011-2012 has gone to .37% from 2.6% in 2009" that will boost confidence in that bank.

Nobody wants to go through again what we are going through now, and I expect the generational effects of this crisis to be greater than or equal to the Great Depression, especially where it relates to credit and credit products.

The notion that Bill the Banker down at CommunityBank, who sees you come in week in and week out to deposit your paycheck will give you a "Street Cred" loan because he knows you is, I'm afraid, more a product of the 1960s than the 2010s.

Good discussion here, though!

M

[Anonymous]

Can this score from Experian still be used in current credit decision making when we allpy for loans?  

[Scamp]

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mittens116 wrote:
Can this score from Experian still be used in current credit decision making when we allpy for loans?  

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Welcome to the forums!

Yes, it can.  Lenders still have the same access they always have had to your Experian score.  It's just us consumers who've been put in the dark on it.

[BungalowMo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Here's an already-made form letter that will allow you to have Experian freeze your credit file to protest this decision:

http://clarkhoward.com/topics/experian_letter.html

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That's all well and good, but I'm certainly not sending that level of personal information through the mail.  Fax it....Maybe.  Call...more likely.

[BungalowMo]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Like the financial infrastructure of this nation so does the whole Fico score business need to be  revamped. Why three different agencies reporting on the same thing, each with their own interpretations of your credit and each just as inaccurate in their reporting as the others.

Something as important as the Fico score should be maintained by the Government not companies like Experian who are not there for the consummer, who don't report fairly or accurately, who are only in it for the money.

I say good riddence.

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Personally, I think Big Brother has enough to worry about.  They can't even be sure who's spending the bailout money & how.  I don't want them overseeing my personal finances & such.....  No thanks....

[Anonymous]

OK, so I've read this:

http://www.experian.com/ask_max/max021909a.html

Experian's response implies that Fair Isaac wants to keep a monopoly over FICO scores sold to consumers and it's all your fault.  Your response?  I didn't see this mentioned in the FAQ, you only said you have no idea why in the world Experian would have done such a thing.

[Anonymous]

All I need to say about Experian is Greed. Why do I say that. They are in it for the money for them. Look at our economy it isnt the best and it hasnt hit rock bottom yet. With Experian, I think they want to get more money for them and not help out the Middle or lower class type of people. Like reading othe post. A lof of companies us Experian and then we will have to shell out more money to get our credit score and it will be different then the FICO score because they have different standards. Bunch of Crock.

Score                                   Goals for 2009

TransUnion 790                     Pay off our SUV  - 9 Months left If I apply triple payments

Experian ??                          Sell our House in ABQ- Housing market is terriable

Equifax 808                          Save more then 11% for retirement-

                                           Finish with my degree in Human Resources and Finance

[haulingthescoreup]

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Nick2893 wrote:

OK, so I've read this:

http://www.experian.com/ask_max/max021909a.html

Experian's response implies that Fair Isaac wants to keep a monopoly over FICO scores sold to consumers and it's all your fault.  Your response?  I didn't see this mentioned in the FAQ, you only said you have no idea why in the world Experian would have done such a thing.

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I think Fair Isaac was trying to take the high road (unlike Experian) --just my personal opinion.

The business press covered this pretty thoroughly, and the consensus is that Experian knows that the overwhelming majority of consumers don't know the difference between FICO's and FAKO's, and that this gives them a sweet opportunity to sell their pretty-much-useless PLUS scores to consumers who don't know any better.. Also, Fair Isaac and the CRA's have to reach an agreement on prices and so forth in order to sell the FICO scores, and if one side (or both) isn't motivated to reach agreement, it isn't going to happen.

It's kind of interesting that Equifax and TransUnion have both been able to come to arrangements where their FICO scores can be bought from their sites as well as from here (www.equifax.com; www.transunioncs.com; note the "cs" at the end.) Kind of makes you wonder why the same thing didn't happen with Experian, huh?

And surely you've seen enough acquaintances go through break-ups to know that what is said isn't necessarily what happened.

Again, just my personal opinion, but from what I can see, there was a lot more motivation for Experian to break the arrangement than for Fair Isaac to have done so. Just think about which party is likely to have increasing revenues now.

[hawkeye33]

Yes, I agree that neither side is probably relaying the whole story. Experian's contention on their site is that in the negotiating process, myFiCO was unwilling to bend on allowing Experian to sell FiCO scores directly to consumers under the terms of the contract. But as Hauling posts, these same contract negotiations with TU and EQ have been successful in the past in allowing these other CRAs to work a deal where they can sell FiCOS from their sites.

The answer has to come from each of the negotiating sides trying to protect revenue and profit margins. From EX's side, they probably didn't see enough margin given the price myFiCO was willing to come down to. From myFiCO's perspective, it could have be that they are less willing to negotiate to a lower price with EX given the degree to which EX heavily advertises their competing product to the public.

Both sides are acting rationally from a business perspective. Unfortunately, we become the casualties of their rational battle. My $0.02.

[Anonymous]

 I live in the S.W. U.S. (Texas) , and work at a car dealer. I pull credit every day.  Most car dealers in this area use TU and EQ primarily.  When applying for a mortgage, all 3 scores are pulled, and the median score is used. As long as I have all 3 reports (for monitoring), and 2 of my scores are visible,,, who cares?  If Ex was low, it would not affect my chances to get a home or car loan, as long as my other 2 are where they are supposed to be.

  Experian always seemed to me as a tag-along with less meaning to the major loans anyway.  People will soon catch on that a FAKO is not a FICO.  IMHO, Experian is just cutting their revenue at a time when all other companies are trying to hang on by boosting profits.

   As a manager, and business owner, I expect that after they examine the quarterly P&L this situation might just go away, and with it some decision makers that caused the losses for the company. 

My 2 cents.

Patrick