Almost 35 points difference between TU and Experian?

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I know that scores may be different between different sources, but I just checked the two FICO scores that are provided by my two credit card providers (FirstBankCard and Bracley) and while the Experian score was reported as 658 (6/10), the TU score is 691 (6/15) and was in the 670s on 5/15. My CreditKarma scores (yes, I know they're only guestimates) have been pretty stady in the 650s for both TU and Equifax for at least the past 2 or 3 months. Is a difference of over 30 points between two reports reasonable? Is there any way - expect of paying for the actual scores - of knowing which score is closer to the truth? (Especially when considering to apply for another credit card - CareCredit)

Thanks,

Anke

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

I know that scores may be different between different sources, but I just checked the two FICO scores that are provided by my two credit card providers (FirstBankCard and Bracley) and while the Experian score was reported as 658 (6/10), the TU score is 691 (6/15) and was in the 670s on 5/15. My CreditKarma scores (yes, I know they're only guestimates) have been pretty stady in the 650s for both TU and Equifax for at least the past 2 or 3 months. Is a difference of over 30 points between two reports reasonable? Is there any way - expect of paying for the actual scores - of knowing which score is closer to the truth? (Especially when considering to apply for another credit card - CareCredit)

Thanks,

Anke

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The Vantage 3.0 scores supplied by Credit Karma are not guestimates or estimates; they are just a totally different score, and not meaningful towards knowing what your FICO scores are.

If there's a big difference between your FICO scores, the only way to know the difference is to view the reports and compare.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

I know that scores may be different between different sources, but I just checked the two FICO scores that are provided by my two credit card providers (FirstBankCard and Bracley) and while the Experian score was reported as 658 (6/10), the TU score is 691 (6/15) and was in the 670s on 5/15. My CreditKarma scores (yes, I know they're only guestimates) have been pretty stady in the 650s for both TU and Equifax for at least the past 2 or 3 months. Is a difference of over 30 points between two reports reasonable? Is there any way - expect of paying for the actual scores - of knowing which score is closer to the truth? (Especially when considering to apply for another credit card - CareCredit)

Thanks,

Anke

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The score that's "closer to the truth" is the one that's most recent.  The scores you referenced were generated at different times, which means they may not be using the same data.  This could result in comparing apples to oranges.  You never know what's going to change from day to day on your report. 

I'd suggest pulling your scores from CCT for $1.  You'll get your 3B reports and all 3 FICO 08 scores.  All 3 scores will be generated at the same exact time, so you'll be comparing apples to apples with your data.  You'll be able to see in looking at the 3B reports if there are any variances between the data. 

A 30 point variance between two scores isn't common, but it also isn't unheard of.  I believe the top outliers have reported a FICO 08 score variances of 34-36 points when the data was identical between bureaus.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. Forgive my ignorance, but what is CCT? Also, do they do a hard pull?

And another - rather stupid - questions, but are real scores "live"? E.g. my credit limit of my one credit card was updated just today and now my utiliation on that card dropped significantly which should result in a score increase. Would that occur immediately or only at certain dates?

[Anonymous]

CCT is Credit Check Total.  Head to their dot com site and in minutes for $1 you can have all 3 of your FICO 08 scores.

Credit cards typically report once per month on or about the same date every month.  If you use a service like CK, you can see the date that your creditor typically reports.  If your utilization changes, the change won't impact your scores until that change reports and is shown on your credit report.  This could mean it could take anywhere from a few days to a month to see a utilization change impact your scores.  If your creditor typically reports on the 20th of the month and you drop your utilization significantly a few days later, it's going to be almost an entire month until that new utilization is reported and your scores will reflect that new utilization.  Hopefully that makes sense.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi,

I know that scores may be different between different sources, but I just checked the two FICO scores that are provided by my two credit card providers (FirstBankCard and Bracley) and while the Experian score was reported as 658 (6/10), the TU score is 691 (6/15) and was in the 670s on 5/15. My CreditKarma scores (yes, I know they're only guestimates) have been pretty stady in the 650s for both TU and Equifax for at least the past 2 or 3 months. Is a difference of over 30 points between two reports reasonable? Is there any way - expect of paying for the actual scores - of knowing which score is closer to the truth? (Especially when considering to apply for another credit card - CareCredit)

Thanks,

Anke

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OP, do you have any late payments in the past?

[hsspres]

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@Anonymous wrote:

are real scores "live"? E.g. my credit limit of my one credit card was updated just today and now my utiliation on that card dropped significantly which should result in a score increase. Would that occur immediately or only at certain dates?

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It would occur when the creditor reports it to the bureaus.  Typically when the statements cut, but not always.  Chase for example will report immediately when you pay a balance down to $0.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the input. I just checked Credit Check Total and holy smokes...

Experian and Equifax are both in the 720s, TU is the aforementioned 691. Those are from just now. Credit Karma -mind you - reported 656 on both Equifax and TU on just Friday; my one Credit Card reported 659 for Experian (FICO) not even one month ago... Yes, I'm utterly confused. So, the results I get from CCT are the ones I could "work" with?

Also, I saw something in the reports on CCT that I don't quite understand. There are "Revolving Debt" and "Installment Debt"...what are those? I assume Installment Debt is my car loan. Revolving...my two credit cards? The Revolving Credit Limit is also different among the three different reports...is that the limit increase I mentioned earlier that is reflected in two, already, but not the third (TU?)

Oh, and no late payments, ever.

[Anonymous]

Good job getting your 3 scores from CCT.  These are a great starting point and give you something to work with.  Remember that 7 days from now you can pull your 3 scores again from CCT at no additional cost.

Your understanding of installment loan debt and revolving debt are correct.  Installment debt is all of your loans.  If you only have 1 loan, that's all that's being figured there.  Revolvers are your credit cards.  If your total limits are differing between the bureaus with respect to your total revolving limits, it means that a card(s) isn't being reported to that bureau or it is being reported, but not with the correct most recent limit.  If you click on "compare all" [bureaus] and then each of your credit cards, side by side it will list the credit limit reported to that bureau for that account.  The one with the lower limit shown, assuming you got a credit line increase recently, likely has a "last reported" date that's older than the other 2 bureaus.  Perhaps in a week when you pull your scores again the bureau that is "off" will have updated.

Keep in mind that your scores from CK use the VantageScore 3.0 model, which has no bearing at all on FICO scores.  It's comparing apples to oranges.  Starting today, now that you have your FICO 08 scores, I would only look at those and completely forget about your CK scores. 

[rmduhon]

It is very possible that the CLI hasn't been updated on TU yet. It seems like everyone has a CRA that is a little behind the others. Equifax is mine.