Big difference among the 3 scores

[Anonymous]

I just got my most recent scores. For the second year there is a big swing between the high and low. Equifax is 754, TranUnion 788 and Experian 832. The info listed is very similar between all three. I have a stellar payment record for over 30 years, I only charge about 3% or less on available credit, never carry a balance, only a minor inquiry for credit, no negatives at all on any report.  I want to know why Equifax is so low compared to the others. What am I missing?

[Junejer]

Hello George, and welcome to the forums. Please read Credit Scoring 101, if you haven't already.

That is quite a swing, especially given your stellar scores. I once had a 178 point swing, but my information was not very similar between the CRAs. If you are really interested in finding out, you should print them out and lay them side by side by side and highlight differences in the reports. Subtle differences sometimes bite folks in the rear end. Besides that, the three CRAs have different scoring algorithms, so the scores wouldn't be identical, even if the information was reported identically across the three bureaus.

[valley_man0505]

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ByrdMan wrote: 
Besides that, the three CRAs have different scoring algorithms, so the scores wouldn't be identical, even if the information was reported identically across the three bureaus.

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ByrdMan--Is there actually a different algorithm used with each CRA?  I know this is obviously true for FAKOs, but I thought FICO actually used the same algorithm with each CRA and that it was nothing other than the report content that caused the scores to be different from one to the next.  I have been wondering about this for a while.

[Tuscani]

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valley_man0505 wrote:

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ByrdMan wrote: 
Besides that, the three CRAs have different scoring algorithms, so the scores wouldn't be identical, even if the information was reported identically across the three bureaus.

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ByrdMan--Is there actually a different algorithm used with each CRA?  I know this is obviously true for FAKOs, but I thought FICO actually used the same algorithm with each CRA and that it was nothing other than the report content that caused the scores to be different from one to the next.  I have been wondering about this for a while.

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There is a unique algorithm for each CRA.

[valley_man0505]

That would explain the big differences I have sometimes seen between my TU and EX scores then--those reports are virtually identical.  In fact, right now, both scores are actually exactly the same, right to the point.  However, sometimes they are as much as 40-50 points different with only [seemingly] very minor changes.

[Tuscani]

Yep.. this is why you will rarely if ever see the same score across the three CRAs.