Discrepency with FICO score?

[Gatito]

Why does myFICO show my transunion score as 639 and when I applied for the CEFCU credit union credit card the score came out as 627? 

[Anonymous]

We get a bunch of different scores on myfico, but none of them matched what the dealership who sold me my car got, nor the credit union that financed it.

It's a good barometer for your range, but unless you know that the finance company is leveraging a particular score I wouldn't count on a match.

Fico produces a wide array of scoring algorithms that a business can subscribe to.  MyFico gives us access to just a handful.  (So yeah... you got sold on coming to myfico to get a real FICO score and now that you have one you discover that your "REAL" score is no more valuable than any of the other scores out there.  )

[Anonymous]

Yes. There are many, many scores & you never know which one your lender will pull.  I check Fico's, Vantage & the ones reporting on my cc's not to mention EQ and their fico score.  All scores I get are different but almost identical and all 3 are about a point or two apart,  As long as you see consistency with your scores, I wouldn't worry.  

[inthewoods]

The discrepancies can be pretty significant depending on the different algorithms involved. MyFico now does a good job of showing different FICO score products demonstrating the different biases of their algorithms. Off-brand scores can vary even more. As a sample, here are my scores from yesterday, ranging from 697 to 820 based on virtually identical credit reports:

TransUnion Vantage New Account (from CapitalOne): 699

TransUnion Vantage New Account (from CreditKarma): 697

TransUnion FICO 8 (from MyFico): 799

TransUnion FICO 4 (from MyFico): 738

TransUnion FICO Auto 8 (from MyFico): 818

TransUnion FICO Auto 4 (from MyFico): 752

TransUnion FICO Bankcard 8 (from MyFico): 828

TransUnion FICO Bankcard 4 (from MyFico): 740

TransUnion VantageScore 3.0 (from CreditKarma): 799

Equifax FICO 8 (from MyFico): 789

Equifax FICO 5 (from MyFico): 732

Equifax FICO Auto 8 (from MyFico): 784

Equifax FICO Auto 4 (from MyFico): 744

Equifax FICO Bankcard 8 (from MyFico): 795

Equifax FICO Bankcard 5 (from MyFico): 733

Equifax VantageScore 3.0 (from CreditKarma): 814

Experian FICO 8 (from MyFico): 792

Experian FICO 2 (from MyFico): 740

Experian FICO Auto 8 (from MyFico): 791

Experian FICO Auto 4 (from MyFico): 743

Experian FICO Bankcard 8 (from MyFico): 820

Experian FICO Bankcard 3 (from MyFico): 736

Experian FICO Bankcard 2 (from MyFico): 708

And here is a graph of CreditKarma’s score tracking. They recently switched their algorithm from Vantage New Account to Vantage 3.0, but are still providing the old scores for continuity. The differences are stark:

Basically, credit scores are largely black magic that sometimes vaguely correlate with credit worthiness. If these companies can’t figure out the proper logic, we scarely have a chance.

[Anonymous]

This is a drastic change!  I would bet some of these might have different info on them? Most of mine are hovering around the same.  Not too many points apart just like the 3 credit bureaus.  But I'm a serious PITB if I find one little thing off.  

[inthewoods]

Not sure if you're replying to the OP or me, but in my case the reports from each of the CRAs are almost identical. 3% util on each.

I think most of the discrepancy is due to differences on how new accounts are penalized. I have three recent cards and a bunch of inquiries. I suspect that the 697 number will recover within three months to around 750.