MyFICO scores

[MontegoMack]

I'm a little confused. 

I've been reading about myFICO now having all three scores being FICO not FAKO scores. Though, I've also read that only the EQ score is what lenders use.

What's the definitive answer on the reliability of the scores that myFICO has to offer in terms of being the same as what lenders see when I app?

[guiness56]

All 3 of the scores from myFICO are real, honest to goodness FICO scores.  They are accurate/reliable for the version/model they are.

When you see that EQ is the only one lenders use, they are referring to mortgage lenders.  And this is absolutely true.  Those lenders only use the FICO 04 version, or commonly called Beacon 5 for EQ.  That is what is used here on myFICO.  I would say autodealers use this version more than others but it would be the autoenhanced version.

Other lenders may or may not use FICO 04.  They may not even use FICO at all but an internal scoring system.

TU 98 is an older model but still used by some, not as many as before.

EX 08 is the newest model and is used by some also.  I know Walmart uses them but I can't think of the others now.  There are a few.

[Kratos-TM]

So autolenders use 04 models but enhanced auto?

[guiness56]

The last two I went to used the 04 auto enhanced. 

You can always ask them what they use too.

[kkapdolee]

There are 49 different versions of "real" FICO scores.

The 3 scores that MyFICO sells are,

EQ FICO 04 Classic

EX FICO 08 Classic

TU FICO 98 Classic

To my knowledge, mortgage lenders only use the FICO 04 Classic scores. There are three different FICO 04 Classic scores: EQ, EX, and TU. Mortgage lenders pull all three and use the middle score (not the average). The reason guiness56 said it is right that EQ is the only one that matters to mortgage lenders is not because they only look at EQ scores, its because what they look at is the FICO 04 classic scores and the only FICO 04 classic you can access from MyFICO is the EQ score.

"Beacon 5.0" is the official name that Equifax put on the FICO 04 Classic version score based on their credit report. Experian calls theirs "Experian, FICO Risk Model V3" while TransUnion calls theirs the "FICO Risk Score, Classic 04". CRAs want to put their own taste to the naming system but its easier to just refer to them as version year and model version (Classic, Bankcard, Auto, etc.). For example, EQ FICO 08 Classic, TU FICO 04 Bankcard Enhanced, EX FICO 98 Auto Enhanced, etc.

guiness56 also mentioned that Auto lenders use FICO 04 Auto enhanced scores. This is a version of FICO 04 scores that focuses more on the person's auto loan history. It ranges from 250-900 instead of the classic 300-850.

From my experience, most of the major credit card companies pull the FICO 08 scores. Some pull the classic version (300-850) and some pull the bankcard enhanced version (250-900). EQ, EX or TU. It doesn't really matter since the CRs should all be nearly identical and the scores should be pretty close to each other. The reason you see a discrepancy between the three different CRAs score on MyFICO has more to do with them being different FICO model than coming from different CRAs. If your credit reports in all three CRAs are nearly the same, your scores should be very close given they are the same FICO versions. For me, the latest EQ FICO 04 Classic score I have was 666 while my TU 08 Classic on the same day was 762. I don't have the EQ 08 Classic but I do have EQ 08 Bankcard Enhanced score which was in the 750s which is much closer to the TU 08 Classic than to EQ 04 Classic. I don't have access to my TU 04 Classic score but I'm sure it is much closer to the EQ 04 Classic than to my TU 08 Classic.

See my sig for more info on the different versions of FICO scores.