new member here and got some questions

[Anonymous]

hello everyone...just joined the forum and finally looked into my scores and this is what i found out.

Credit Scores: 

671-experian

671-equifax

680-transunion

Fico Score:

672-experian

692-equifax

696-transunion

I have had some derrogatory marks on my reports but over the past 2 years i have really set a goal to raise my score.  I am pleased to find out that my scores have improved but here is my question:

Do fico scores usually score higher then credit scores?

What does it mean when your credit score is actually lower then your fico score?

My goal is to get to 700 across the board by next year and was hoping to hear from you guy what tips i can do to achieve my goal.  Am i on the right track? any tips are appreciated.

Below are my current cards...

Current cards:

chase sapphire preferred 5k limit

amex everyday preferred 5k limit

chase freedom 2500 limit

Store cards:

Bestbuy 2k limit

Macy's 2k limit

I have zero balances on all cards except for my chase freedom and amex everyday preferred.  I pay every payment in full and on time.  Thanks guys and looking foward to hearing from you all.

[Anonymous]

Good question! going to look forward to this. saw your signature and you got approved for the amex everyday ....Nice!

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@Anonymous wrote:

hello everyone...just joined the forum and finally looked into my scores and this is what i found out.

Credit Scores: 

671-experian

671-equifax

680-transunion

Fico Score:

672-experian

692-equifax

696-transunion

I have had some derrogatory marks on my reports but over the past 2 years i have really set a goal to raise my score.  I am pleased to find out that my scores have improved but here is my question:

Do fico scores usually score higher then credit scores?

What does it mean when your credit score is actually lower then your fico score?

My goal is to get to 700 across the board by next year and was hoping to hear from you guy what tips i can do to achieve my goal.  Am i on the right track? any tips are appreciated.

Below are my current cards...

Current cards:

chase sapphire preferred 5k limit

amex everyday preferred 5k limit

chase freedom 2500 limit

Store cards:

Bestbuy 2k limit

Macy's 2k limit

I have zero balances on all cards except for my chase freedom and amex everyday preferred.  I pay every payment in full and on time.  Thanks guys and looking foward to hearing from you all.

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[jsucool76]

Hi Broscience, Welcome to MyFico

Congratulations on setting a goal to improve your credit profile!

To answer your first question, your FICO score is your credit score. It is simply a method of credit scoring, and one that is used by most lenders today. So there is no difference between a "credit score" and a "FICO score" really, however, your FICO score is often referred to as a "real" credit score, because it is a scoring method used by lenders, whereas things like CreditKarma and CreditSesame offer "FAKO" scores. They still offer good insight into your credit profile, however, their scoring methods are not used by lenders, so they need to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Where did you get your scores that were NOT fico from? 

As far as raising your scores, I would suggest always paying on time, and paying off as much as you possibly can each month. Paying off your balance BEFORE your statement cuts will also allow you get a few extra points in by showing a lower credit utilization, however, this is not always necessary as utilization is a constantly changing factor. This is something I would only say you need to do if you are in the process of seeking new credit to make your score as high as it can be. 

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply guys!  To answer your questions I got my 3 credit scores from experian.com and bought the 3 scores.

I then came on to myfico.com and checked my fico scores.

I was doing some research and heard that paying down revolving credit like student loans could lower your score.  Is this true?

I have around 10k left in students loans and was thinking of paying down the entire thing very soon.  But if it lowers my score i was thinking maybe paying off 3/4 of it then paying the rest as i go month to month.  

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the reply guys!  To answer your questions I got my 3 credit scores from experian.com and bought the 3 scores.

I then came on to myfico.com and checked my fico scores.

I was doing some research and heard that paying down revolving credit like student loans could lower your score.  Is this true?

I have around 10k left in students loans and was thinking of paying down the entire thing very soon.  But if it lowers my score i was thinking maybe paying off 3/4 of it then paying the rest as i go month to month.  

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If you don't have any other open installment lines, that's the case, but financially speaking it's better to pay them off and open up a silly trivial secured loan from Alliant or DCU or similar just to keep that part of the score card up.

If you have an auto or mortgage loan open on the report, I'd just airstrike the SL's and go on with life.  We've seen where paying loans completely off can be a negative, and a non-trivial one too if you don't have any other open installment lines.  Finances > FICO always, and if you're stuck at a 6.8% SL or whatever, doesn't make much sense to carry that financially if you don't have to.

[jsucool76]

+1 to rev...your score can always recover...your finances can't always do that. Better to not have debt hanging over your head than to save a few points on your score

And for clarification, the scores from experian.com are FAKO, only MyFico (and some lenders who offer scores free with their accounts, discover, walmart, barclays, PSECU and so on) offer REAL FICO scores to consumers. 

[Anonymous]

yea your def. right!  thanks for the advice...I just paid down my student loan and im feeling great.  I don't have a auto loan or a mortgage so i know it will probably negatively reflect my score since most of my credit cards are fairly new.  But no debt and feeling finacially free seems to be okay with me.