The Different Credit Scoring Models Explained (Transunion & Experian)

[Anonymous]

I have been subscribing to MyFICO for approx 5 years and have recently became curious as to why there was a sizable difference between my Transunion Score and MyFICO Transunion score.

10/03/11 - Transunion Website (784-C grade out of 990 total points)

08-07/11 - MyFICO Website Score (782-excellent out of 850 total points)

Please explain why the actual Transunion website varies greatly from MyFICO.

In addition, the Experian website bases their credit score out of a total of 830 points, not 850 like MyFICO.

10/03/11 - Experian Website (769 out of 830 total points)

Please explain why there is such a difference in scoring. 

Are all three credit models still used today? 

Which one should I use as a guide before applying for credit? 

Is MyFICO still the standard/bible?

I just don't want surprises when applying for credit given the current credit crisis the country is in.  I am most disappointed that my Transunion score is 784 out of 990 points.

Anny feedback is great! thx

Aiming for 780 avg across all 3 scores!

TU 8/07/11 (782), MyFICO

EQ 08/17/11 (773), MyFICO

EXP 10/03/11 (769) EXP website, not MyFICO

[MarineVietVet]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have been subscribing to MyFICO for approx 5 years and have recently became curious as to why there was a sizable difference between my Transunion Score and MyFICO Transunion score.

10/03/11 - Transunion Website (784-C grade out of 990 total points) The TU site uses what is called a VantageScore. It's based on different scoring formulas than FICO and although a few lenders are actually using the VS to make decisions most lenders still use FICO scores. Plus the score range for VS is 501-990 whereas FICO ranges from 300-850. For the most part you can ignore the VS.

08-07/11 - MyFICO Website Score (782-excellent out of 850 total points) This is a true TU FICO and although it is an older version of TU called TU98 many lenders still use it. It seems though that most lenders are going to the newer TU04.

Please explain why the actual Transunion website varies greatly from MyFICO. See explanation above.

In addition, the Experian website bases their credit score out of a total of 830 points, not 850 like MyFICO. No one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. What you get now from the EX website is called a "Plus" score and is not used by any lenders. It's is completely worthless.

10/03/11 - Experian Website (769 out of 830 total points) Useless.

Please explain why there is such a difference in scoring. 

Are all three credit models still used today?  Yes they are but you can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO.

At one time you could also purchase your Transunion score at transunioncs.com but that site seems to have stopped doing that. Wal Mart now offers a TU score to those who have their store card and the Discover version.

Equifax will still sell you a FICO score but you have to look very hard to find it. You can get to it here: www.equifax.com/web-myfico-products/

Which one should I use as a guide before applying for credit?  Either TU or EQ will give you an accurate score.

Is MyFICO still the standard/bible? Yes it is.

I just don't want surprises when applying for credit given the current credit crisis the country is in.  I am most disappointed that my Transunion score is 784 out of 990 points. As I said above this 784 is a VantageScore not a FICO score.

Anny feedback is great! thx

Aiming for 780 avg across all 3 scores!

TU 8/07/11 (782), MyFICO

EQ 08/17/11 (773), MyFICO

EXP 10/03/11 (769) EXP website, not MyFICO

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[GregB]

The EQ FICO from here is a real FICO score, the exact version used for virtually all mortgages. The TU FICO from here is a real FICO, still used but an earlier version than the one used for virtually all mortgages.

The Transunion score you quoted is a Vantage Score, a non-FICO. Not used for any mortgages but is actually used by a tiny number of other lenders.

All other scores are completely worthless, not used by any lenders.

Don't think of any score as X out of a possible Y, like 782 out of 850. It isn't like a test where if you get everything correct you get 100%. If your EQ FICO is 773 as it shows in your signature, then that is excellent.

[LIGHTNIN]

So you don't get surprised when applying for credit......Just ask the lender, where will they be pull your credit score from.

Also it would be wise to ask before applying,so you know whether or not to continue the application.

[Anonymous]

Hey MyFico, Why not give me the option which scoring model to purchase from MyFico.com?  You developed the scoring models then sold me one that is basically crap to me.  It's older and most lenders don't even use Risk Model 98 anymore. 

Let me share my learning experience and show my ignorance.  My wife and I applied to refinance a few months ago, without pulling our credit score first, and found our scores were WAY lower than expected.  We promptly ordered our reports from TU, EQF, EXP and disputed several things.  I order my new score directly from EQF since they were my lowest score from a few months earlier.  Score came back as EXCELLENT.  So back to the mortgage company again.  Wow my EQF came back 80 points lower than the score I just paid for at their website (NOT the advantage score).  I let EQF know of my dislike.  How could they list me as an excellent credit rating and the Beacon 5.0 model barely lists me as good with a score of 703 (rhetorical question).

Next item - TU score came in at 709 using the classic 04 scoring model.  EXP came in at 780 (fair Isaac v2) (We were able to really get the EXP score up there.)  We thought we had done enough before we asked the lender to pull the credit scores again, but there are 2 more things we can do to get that lower middle score up.  The first was get one CC company to properly list the credit limit and the other half was to pay down a balance on the medical CC known as carecredit.  I purchased from MyFico.com my transunion FICO which came back as 684.  I searched and found this thread stating that MyFico.com uses FICO Classic 98 scoring model.  I would only expect the 709 (classic 04) to improve.  I know the creditkarma score improved after making these changes which means that the TU FICO classic 98 score is more than 25 points off.

So basically everyone that pays money on MyFico.com is getting ripped off.  My lesson, keep track of the credit reports and get them as correct as possible.  Track your score from a free place such as creditkarma.

[fused]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So basically everyone that pays money on MyFico.com is getting ripped off.  My lesson, keep track of the credit reports and get them as correct as possible.  Track your score from a free place such as creditkarma.

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Welcome to the forums!

Naturally, I wish we could purchase any FICO score we want with all three of the credit reporting agencies. While there are more lenders using the the FICO TU04 score, there is still a fair number using FICO TU98. I find the FICO TU98 score to be more useful than CreditKarma's TU score because very few, if any lenders use it.

[GregB]

CreditKarma TU score, called TransRisk, is not used by any lenders. They also will give you a Vantage Score, which is used by a tiny number of lenders.  CK is nice for a free way to get you the info in your TU report so it is fine if you just ignore the scores, which is hard to do.

TU FICO Classic 98 is worth far, far more.

I would agree that it would be nice to get TU Classic 04 instead or even as a choice.