Score discrepancy

[radfam]

Can someone please explain the discrepancy I see between my myFico scores and my Experian scores?  I have the 3b monitoring that pulls reports quarterly.  I see my Experian mortgage score (fico2) on myFico as 590.  But on the Experian website, I see my Fico2 as 620.  It isn't just my mortgage score.  MF has my EX Fico8 as 598 but the EX website has my Fico8 as 602.  Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

As for your EX 08 scores not matching, it simply means that they were pulled at different times.

There are only 3 pieces of criteria that go into a credit score:  The scoring model used, the bureau data used and the time at which these first 2 factors pulled the data.  Since your scoring model (FICO 08) and bureau data (EX) are identical, the only other factor is time, so the reason your scores differ by 4 points is that they were generated at 2 different times.

The same thing with your mortgage scores or any other scores.  If the models are different, that's generally going to result in different scores.

[Anonymous]

I have serious score discrepancies myself only between the different CRA's. With all reports being the same (no baddies, no inq's, etc) I get EX- 716, TU- 678, and EQ- 767.

Of couse, it doesn't help that my Cap1 QS hasn't update its balance since Aug even though I had paid it close to 0 right after the huricane here in FL. I had made a large purchase then due to huricane foolishness didn't get it paid before the cut off date and now it has not updated at any of the BIG 3 since Aug.

Could it be that each scores the balance differently?

or since I freaked out about the EQ data breach and locked all my reports that is preventing Cap 1 from updating?

It's confusing.

[Anonymous]

It's impossible that you'd have a ~90 point spread between your top and bottom score if all 3 scoring criteria (scoring model, bureau data used, time these first 2 factors were used to generate score) are the same.  99 times out of 100 when someone posts about this, it's because the bureau data is not the same.  If I were you I'd obtain copies of my credit reports and go through them account by account and look for variances.  It could be anything like dates, negative items, utilization percentages, number of cards with balances reported, certain accounts simply not being present, etc.  The possibilities are endless really.  The highest variance I think we've seen at least with FICO 08 scores with identical scoring factors is 36 points.

[radfam]

I guess I don't understand my myFico subscription.  I get alerts when my score changes.  My myfico experian score says one thing but my fico score on the experian app says another.  It can't be Fako if it says "FICO score 8" with a registered trademark symbol.  So why does my Myfico ex score not appear the same as my experian fico score, both on Fico8 model?  Time it was pulled?  Maybe.  But doesn't my MF subscription update with score changes?  

Not that the discrepancy is so large that I'm up in arms about it.  I'm just wondering why I need to keep paying for MF if it is inaccurate or doesn't update accordingly.

[Anonymous]

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@radfam wrote:

I guess I don't understand my myFico subscription.  I get alerts when my score changes.  My myfico experian score says one thing but my fico score on the experian app says another.  It can't be Fako if it says "FICO score 8" with a registered trademark symbol.  So why does my Myfico ex score not appear the same as my experian fico score, both on Fico8 model?  Time it was pulled?  Maybe.  But doesn't my MF subscription update with score changes?  

Not that the discrepancy is so large that I'm up in arms about it.  I'm just wondering why I need to keep paying for MF if it is inaccurate or doesn't update accordingly.

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You pay for MF for the monthly or quarterly 3B pulls which let you decide when to pull during the timeframe.  I pay for MF monthly but don't pull until after the 18th or 19th of each month when I know everything is updated.

The alerts aren't intended to be instant -- sometimes an alert will show up 3-4 days late but at last it tells you if something significant happened.  I don't find the alerts all that useful other than as a warning even if it's 4-5 days late.

I pay for MF for the 3B pulls that give me ALL my FICO flavors.  I don't pay for monitoring which is free on a million other sites, but those sites give me either useless scores or partial 3B data.

[Anonymous]

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@radfam wrote:

I guess I don't understand my myFico subscription.  I get alerts when my score changes. 

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This is where you are mistaken.  You don't get alerts when your score changes.  You get alerts when there's an alertable event related to your credit report.  It could be paying off a balance, a new inquiry, a change to a piece of your personal information, etc.  Any time you receive an alert, you are provided with a new score at that time.  Any score change may or may not have anything to do with the alertable event.  For example, if you have a $5 balance on a CC from the previous reporting and the card now reports $0, you'll get an alert that you paid off a credit card.  At the same time, you may have taken a different credit card from a $10 previously reported balance to $900 on a $1000 limit, essentially maxing it out for scoring purposes.  This change would not cause an alert.  Bringing the card from a $10 balance to a $900 could result in a score drop, say 15 points just to give it a number.  If you went by the alert you received, you'd believe that paying off a $5 balance to $0 results in a 15 point score drop, when in fact that new score drop had absolutely nothing to do with you paying off 5 bucks.  Hopefully that makes sense.

[radfam]

Thank you for the clarification! I do appreciate it.