Not all lenders use FICO?

[f1ared]

So I have been speaking to a lender regarding trying to get pre approved for a mortgage soon. I asked him if they use FICO credit scores, as that is what I read most lenders, banks, etc use. He said NO they do not use fico and even went ahead and told me that "saying the word fico is like saying all tissues are called kleenex. Same thing, different brands". 

He told me they use some other credit agency. (Forgot the name). Is this true? Do most banks use a credit agency other than myFico? Probably not the best place to put this LOL, but Is FICO more of just an advertisement? 

Thanks! 

[CreditDunce]

MyFico allows you to pull your FICO-08 scores from the three major CRA's (Equifax, Experien, Transunion).   However, there are several models a lender can pull from.  The following sticky discusses the different models:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-many-flavors-of-FICO-Editions-version...

If the CCC is using a different model, the MyFico score may not be very accurate.

There are some lenders who only use an internal scoring method.  They pull your credit report from a CRA and do their own scoring.  However, most lenders will use a FICO score and add their own stuff on top.  For example, your income is not included in FICO scoring, most CCC's consider your income vs debts before approval.

[Anonymous]

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@CreditDunce wrote:

MyFico allows you to pull your FICO-08 scores from the three major CRA's (Equifax, Experien, Transunion).   However, there are several models a lender can pull from.  The following sticky discusses the different models:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-many-flavors-of-FICO-Editions-version...

If the CCC is using a different model, the MyFico score may not be very accurate.

There are some lenders who only use an internal scoring method.  They pull your credit report from a CRA and do their own scoring.  However, most lenders will use a FICO score and add their own stuff on top.  For example, your income is not included in FICO scoring, most CCC's consider your income vs debts before approval.

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+1. 

A couple years back I read somewhere that 80% of the top 100 financial institutions used some variant of FICO scores. You have several other models, including ones by the CRAs themselves, but most of them are not considered FICO scores. Moreover, FICO scores themselves can vary a lot since you have dozens of versions of FICO scores for different purposes. 

[mongstradamus]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditDunce wrote:

MyFico allows you to pull your FICO-08 scores from the three major CRA's (Equifax, Experien, Transunion).   However, there are several models a lender can pull from.  The following sticky discusses the different models:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/The-many-flavors-of-FICO-Editions-versions-and-variations/td-p/1197617

If the CCC is using a different model, the MyFico score may not be very accurate.

There are some lenders who only use an internal scoring method.  They pull your credit report from a CRA and do their own scoring.  However, most lenders will use a FICO score and add their own stuff on top.  For example, your income is not included in FICO scoring, most CCC's consider your income vs debts before approval.

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+1. 

A couple years back I read somewhere that 80% of the top 100 financial institutions used some variant of FICO scores. You have several other models, including ones by the CRAs themselves, but most of them are not considered FICO scores. Moreover, FICO scores themselves can vary a lot since you have dozens of versions of FICO scores for different purposes. 

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I think there are now over 50 different versions of Fico scores now. I don't think that includes CCC internal scoring thats based off fico scores and the such. It can all get very confusing.