STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY PAYING FOR FICO SCORES

[foofighter74]

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@Aim720 wrote:
 but FICO is NOT used by 90% of lenders.

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Completely inaccurate. 

[nickf4rr]

Where would one find accurate data on what models/scores lenders are using?

I'm stuck mining these forums to see what people's rejection letters are saying.

For that matter, what makes FICO the gold standard?  Is there any good comprehensive statistical data on FICO/FAKO inaccuracies?  The CW on the forums is that FAKO will always be +/- 50 of the FICO pts at worst.

For that matter, not all FAKOs are created equal.  Is anyone out there studying FAKOs?

(FWIW, Fair-Isaac's best branding idea was probably popularizing this forums' use of FAKOs....I finally know where it came from after seeing it on a bunch of other forums...) 

[HiLine]

FICO is popular because their models are good measures of risk based on past experience. There are millions of FICO and FAKO scores out there I doubt there is a comprehensive comparison chart.

[nickf4rr]

There are a lot of commonly used FAKOs out there...perhaps we should have a comparison chart of those!   Can we mine this forum for real data that isn't in people's SIGs?

[llecs]

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@nickf4rr wrote:

There are a lot of commonly used FAKOs out there...perhaps we should have a comparison chart of those!   Can we mine this forum for real data that isn't in people's SIGs?

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You can't compare though. FAKOs include stuff that FICO does not, and vice versa. The score ranges differ so there's no true comparison. It's also not uncommon to have a FICO increase and a FAKO decrease for the same reason.

[nickf4rr]

Well, FAKOs generally aren't based off complete credit reports anyway, are they?

I was just wondering which FAKOs were reasonably well established and generally accurate, at least in terms of the forums (i.e. CreditSesame) and which ones were complete crap.

[VanRickets]

My FAKO score is and always has been in line with my FICO score for the other 2 agencies. When I full my FAKO, it gives me a credit report for all 3 reporting agencies and one score. This is through Discover card.

[nickf4rr]

Which Discover card product are you using?  I guess I wasn't aware that Discover had a credit pull product...

[enharu]

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@nickf4rr wrote:

Which Discover card product are you using?  I guess I wasn't aware that Discover had a credit pull product...

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they have one. it's just not open for people to enroll in currently.

login to discover, and its under the identity monitoring (or something similar) tab. click on it, and then it'll say it's not accepting new customers at this time.

and to OP: it depends. if one is in active search for credit, it is NOT a waste of money to get his/her FICO score. you want to be in the best light possible when you apply. However, if you don't plan to apply for anything nor forsee your financial situation changing in the forseeable future, then it's probably a waste of money. However, it's always good to have some kind of identity monitoring service, regardless of whether it's free or paid. But your statements are mostly inaccurate. MOST lenders use FICO scores. The formula just depends because there's different enhancements to FICO scoring depending on what loan / credit you're getting. There's auto enhanced FICO, which most dealerships use for example. Chase has their own vantage scoring system, but they also look at FICO. So regardless of whatever the case may be, you still want to make sure your FICO score is high.

[smallfry]

I get 2 free scores monthly. One Ex and one TU. When I first started rebuilding I was nuts about finding out my scores. Now not so much but I do check my freebies every month. I haven't checked my EQ in a long while no need really since I know withing a few points where it is because of the other 2 scores. I check reports now and again will never buy another EQ in my life. Get a base score and don't pay anything late ever. Follow a few simple pointers you can get here concerning what influences scores monthly. As for constantly buying scores? Save your money.