Huge discrepancy between Equifax and FICO

[Anonymous]

I recently applied for a CLI on my Capital One card and to my surprise was denied. My credit is definitely what you would call rebuilding but I have always been on time with my payments with Capital One and my balance is low. I received a letter and it said my credit score reported from Equifax was a staggering 439. I checked my FICO via Chase Slate and Discover and I was at 578 and 566 respectively. Now those are low scores in their own right but what would cause such a huge gap in score? I checked my credit report on creditkarma and their fako Equifax score was around 540 and the credit report itself matched up with my Transunion report. Any thoughts?

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I recently applied for a CLI on my Capital One card and to my surprise was denied. My credit is definitely what you would call rebuilding but I have always been on time with my payments with Capital One and my balance is low. I received a letter and it said my credit score reported from Equifax was a staggering 439. I checked my FICO via Chase Slate and Discover and I was at 578 and 566 respectively. Now those are low scores in their own right but what would cause such a huge gap in score? I checked my credit report on creditkarma and their fako Equifax score was around 540 and the credit report itself matched up with my Transunion report. Any thoughts?

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They use some FICO 4 model. Mine is usually 50 or more points below my FICO 8.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I recently applied for a CLI on my Capital One card and to my surprise was denied. My credit is definitely what you would call rebuilding but I have always been on time with my payments with Capital One and my balance is low. I received a letter and it said my credit score reported from Equifax was a staggering 439. I checked my FICO via Chase Slate and Discover and I was at 578 and 566 respectively. Now those are low scores in their own right but what would cause such a huge gap in score? I checked my credit report on creditkarma and their fako Equifax score was around 540 and the credit report itself matched up with my Transunion report. Any thoughts?

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In addition to using a different FICO model, they often use a report that's 2 or 3 months old.

[RonM21]

SJ is right. They use a different model and can be a month or so behind. I would disregard the CK scores just for the fact that they aren't true Fico's.

[Anonymous]

Yeah I generally ignore those scores unless I want a rough guesstimate as to where my FICO 8 is. The Slate and Discover ones are legit scores though and I go off of those.

What's discouraging is apparently mortgage lenders go off of FICO 4 from what I read. I've been working my ass off to get at least a 580 FICO to qualify for an FHA loan but if they don't go by FICO 8 then the uphill battle may continue!

Good to know that's where the huge difference is coming from though. Thanks for clearing it up!

[disdreamin]

My FICO scores and my CK scores can differ by 30+ points easily, and my FICO 04 can be ~70 points below my FICO 8 or 9, apparently. Horrifying difference, that! So yeah, it really matters which score they pull. Oh, and when they pull it, obviously - having lots of cards report balances looks to kill my FICO 04.