FICO04 score higher than FICO08

[CreditPlay]

Today i received my EQ FICO 04 score from DCU and I was suprised to see my score is 10 pts higher than my FICO08. I use to think FICO04 is more stringent than 08.

04 reason is I have opened a new account recently, which i did my only installment loan whereas 08 says Balance on my non mortgage line is too high. So is it 08 more friendly with new accounts? A week before i got 2 HPs on my EQ on the same day and ther was no change in score, this week i have 3 credit cards (out of 6 )reporting balance instead of 2 and my score got dinged by 4 pts.

[Anonymous]

My experience is FICO '04 (810) [range 300 to 850] is more friendly with my credit profile file. FICO '08 hits me harder for same profile (813) [range 250 to 900]!? 13 years length of credit and 6 years AoA. Realize it is totally based on one's credit profile. Did open a new account in May 2014 with a $10K limit and generated two hard inquiries (did a CL recon).

[CreditPlay]

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@Anonymous wrote:

My experience is FICO '04 (810) [range 300 to 850] is more friendly with my credit profile file. FICO '08 hits me harder for same profile (813) [range 250 to 900]!? 13 years length of credit and 6 years AoA. Realize it is totally based on one's credit profile. Did open a new account in May 2014 with a $10K limit and generated two hard inquiries (did a CL recon).

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Interesting! Btw FICO08 has the same range 300-850

[masscredit]

My EQ08 score moves around more than my 04. The 08 will go up and down through the 680s while the 04 sits at 699.

[HiLine]

My understanding is that FICO 08 is more tolerant for short credit history, low AAoA, and high utilization. Consumers with these behaviors likely have a higher FICO 08 than FICO 04. Others, I suspect, will have higher 04 than 08.

[iv]

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@HiLine wrote:

My understanding is that FICO 08 is more tolerant for short credit history, low AAoA, and high utilization. Consumers with these behaviors likely have a higher FICO 08 than FICO 04. Others, I suspect, will have higher 04 than 08.

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That... doesn't match the numbers I've seen.

With long credit history, high AAoA, and low utilization, I've always seen much higher FICO 8 scores than either FICO 04 or FICO 98.

[EW800]

This is a very interesting topic!  

In my case, my 08 scores have always been quite a bit higher than my 04 scores (see below, I list both versions). I am not sure, however I have been pretty sure that in at least my case, it is because 08 perhaps puts a bit more emphasis on recent history, vs. prior history.  I went through some very ugly times a couple of years ago, however the last two years have been VERY clean.  My 08 scores have rebounded fairly well, however 04 has been slower to move.  I get the feeling that 04 is less forgiving of previous issues.  

One of my biggest goals at the moment is to get my EQ 04 score to 700.  I already have extremely low Util and my payment history has been perfect the last two years, so I am pretty sure that only TIME is going to help my 04 scores from here.  

[mongstradamus]

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The one thing i do recall about 04 scores vs 08 scores is 04 scores usually take AU accounts into account, while 08 scores usually just ignore Au accounts. 

[iv]

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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The one thing i do recall about 04 scores vs 08 scores is 04 scores usually take AU accounts into account, while 08 scores usually just ignore Au accounts. 

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I've found that FICO 8 DOES consider AU accounts, at least for spouses with matching addresses.

Beyond that, FICO has made it clear that FICO 8 will attempt to identify and discount "tactical" AUs, without declaring exactly where the line is drawn between "legitimate" household AUs and third-party "AU farmers".

[mongstradamus]

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@iv wrote:

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@mongstradamus wrote:

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The one thing i do recall about 04 scores vs 08 scores is 04 scores usually take AU accounts into account, while 08 scores usually just ignore Au accounts. 

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I've found that FICO 8 DOES consider AU accounts, at least for spouses with matching addresses.

Beyond that, FICO has made it clear that FICO 8 will attempt to identify and discount "tactical" AUs, without declaring exactly where the line is drawn between "legitimate" household AUs and third-party "AU farmers".

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In my personal experience they didn't take into account au accounts for me. I am on an old WF CC, that i am an AU on, thats used for the free cell phone insurance. I am an au on that card with my mother, and its not counted. So i guess its only spouses family members dont count? Trying to figure out all the intricacies of fico scoring just makes my head hurt.