topic Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores? in Credit Cards

What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:03:02 GMT

I pulled an experian report with score directly from Experian, and the score thats listed is what they call a Plus Score. Nowhere does it say FICO so I am sure it isn't my actual FICO score.

Does anyone know the differance between them?

And do they tend to run higher or lower than FICO Scores? (I notice that the transunion triple scores tend to run higher than FICO when your scores are low and they tend to run lower when your scores improve, hence the question.)

Van

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:14:12 GMT

Confusing, isn't it? Same here. Don't feel bad, I've been struggling with this issue since I've been here....about 2 1/2 months

First off there is FICO and what is commonly termed FACO(pronounced Fake-o).

The 2 are different. FACO normally always higher, at least for me.

I've learned that lenders, typically mortgage companies use FICO scores.

But today I read that only the credit reports from Equifax will give you true, certified FICO scores. So you can consider the other 2 FAKO's.

I'm sure others will chime in when they wake up. And correct me anyone, if this isnt completely true. Just as I understand it

Hope that helps

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:21:07 GMT

Yep I know that TransUnion scores are FACO's, but this was the first time I really noticed that "Plus Score".

I know some of the credit cards that give you free scores use a "Bank Card Enhanced Score", but I thought when I bought my actual credit report with score from Experian that I was going to get my FICO score...

Live and learn I suppose. It's the almighty score but you never know which one your gonna get till after you pay for it LOL

Van

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Creditaddict — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:16:21 GMT

I have not figured out why we as consumers usually get PLUS Scores when we pull reports unless you come here to Fico.com but yet almost ALL lenders ONLY use Fico and consider Plus worthless. and on top of that PLUS are ALWAYS HIGHER then your fico. So we are being led to believe our credit is better then it is!

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:30:03 GMT

Vanyel wrote:And do they tend to run higher or lower than FICO Scores?

Answer: yes. sorry, couldn't resist

Where you do run into FICO-but-different scores are the enhanced FICO scores. There are versions for credit cards and car loans that I know of. They start with the standard FICO score, but they give higher weight to those categories, because they are marketed to lenders in those fields. So for a credit card enhanced FICO (=PFICO), the cc history and util will count for more, etc. People with WaMu accounts (can't remember if it's checking, CC or what) get their monthly PFICO score for free. It can be really different from a straight FICO, because of the heavier weight on the CC side, but it's built on the bones of a FICO score.

Sorry, I'm trying to remember from your other posts if you already knew this. Oh well, it's there for general use, I guess!

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

haulingthescoreup — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:36:26 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
I have not figured out why we as consumers usually get PLUS Scores when we pull reports unless you come here to Fico.com but yet almost ALL lenders ONLY use Fico and consider Plus worthless. and on top of that PLUS are ALWAYS HIGHER then your fico. So we are being led to believe our credit is better then it is!

FICO is gonna charge you more, because what they have are the real scores, so they know that people will be willing to pay more, alas. Only EQ so far has been willing to pay FICO for permission to sell its scores. TU somewhere is supposed to have the ability to access a FICO score, but I can't find it to save my neck. I think the other sites create scores to pretend that they're useful, too, and to lure in some people who don't know the difference.

I read on another post that the USA Today story about people burned by FAKO scores is coming out next week. The reporter interviewed at least one of our forum members. Should be fun! (I'm referring to the link on a few of the boards here that says "USA Today wants to talk to you."

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

MattH — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:53:47 GMT

@Creditaddict wrote:
I have not figured out why we as consumers usually get PLUS Scores when we pull reports unless you come here to Fico.com but yet almost ALL lenders ONLY use Fico and consider Plus worthless. and on top of that PLUS are ALWAYS HIGHER then your fico. So we are being led to believe our credit is better then it is!

Actually my Experian PLUS came out a little lower than my Experian FICO score, though somewhat higher than my EQ and TU FICO scores, as my EX is always my highest FICO when I pull all three from myfico.com

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

jmbfl — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 03:20:42 GMT

HTSU -

That would be www.transunioncs.com

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:53:48 GMT

jmbfl wrote:

HTSU -

That would be www.transunioncs.com

It's been nine months since HTSU posted the above, and I am positive she knows transunioncs.com by heart at this point.

It's almost funny to be reminded there was a time when she didn't know it off the top her head! lol

Edit so as not to be misconstrued: I didn't mean to be rude, jmbfl. Thank you for posting that! I was caught up in the fact that there was something HTSU didn't know off the top of her head at some point!

Message Edited by cheddar on 07-17-2008 10:53 PM

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:37:53 GMT

Base on what i read on this forum the plus score runs lower than fico

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:08:25 GMT

What's the difference?

About 30-40 points, on average, in my case. The lower of the two always being the actual FICO, alas.

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:12:02 GMT

" What's the difference? About 30-40 points, on average, in my case. The lower of the two always being the actual FICO, alas"

"Base on what i read on this forum the plus score runs lower than fico"

What the deuce! So which is it? My EX is 692 on the ExX monthly plus score thing.

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:24:55 GMT

My EX Fico is 704 and EX Plus is 761. A lot of lenders use Experian but I don't know which one they use. EX also has Vantage scores. ??????

It seems to me there should be some kind of regulatng.

Message Edited by casinoannie97 on 07-17-2008 10:24 PM

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:27:04 GMT

Me be confused!!!! Any moderator know this stuff for certain?????

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:37:05 GMT

My Experian Plus score, as of today, is 744 - and it's been that way for weeks, other than some apparently random fluctuations to 733 and back again overnight. I would KILL for a FICO score, any FICO score, even approaching 744. Or 733, for that matter! What you see in my signature is the highest those FICOs have ever gone - admittedly I haven't checked the EX one since the end of May, but... I know if I paid to check it right now, there's (sadly) no way that baby's going to be even within 30 points of the Plus version. Alas.

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:09:13 GMT

Jubeyy wrote:
Me be confused!!!! Any moderator know this stuff for certain?????

For some, the PLUS scores will be higher than one's FICOs. For others, they will be lower. There is no rhyme or reason.

You are confused because you are looking for correlation where there is none. Any resemblance between one's FICO scores and one's PLUS scores is entirely coincidental.

The PLUS score was developed by Experian, not Fair Isaac. Fair Isaac owns the formulas used to generate FICO scores, and they are top secret. They are the intellectual property of FI. In an effort to compete with FI, several other companies have developed their own credit scores. Because the FICO formulas are top secret, these competitors developed their scores using formulas of their own invention. Because each of these scores uses a different formula, each of these scores will be different, even though the input data (your credit report) may be the same.

Just as you can get your TrueCredit scores from TU, and you can get PLUS scores from EX, another score that was developed in an attempt to compete with FICO is the Vantage score. This score was developed through a collaberative effort by the three major CRAs. Again, however, this score uses its own formula, and has nothing to do with FICO.

The important thing to remember is that FICO scores are used by over 90% of lenders in their decisions involving the extension of credit, and that's the only score you should really care about, because it's the only one that matters in the real world.

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:28:57 GMT

I just checked......my real Fico Experian score is 613!

I was so proud of being so close to the 700 club. My Experian "Plus Score" is 692.

I am canceling my good for nothing monthly Experian monitoring

Shouldn't I just check the MyFico REAL score every couple moths or so than having that Experian monthly thing?

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 07-18-2008 12:23 AM

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 07-18-2008 02:28 AM

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:04:30 GMT

I love it when old threads resurface! It shows how we've figured some stuff out in the interval, but in a lot of areas, we're still poking gingerly with a stick.

I wanted to add that since that post above, I found that when you pull your scores here, the actual work is done at the CRA's, and the results are sent back here. myFICO is a consumer portal to access your scores, and it's the CRA's that are licking their thumbs (to quote the SmorgasBoard thread) and counting the grubby bills. And that's why FICO scores are so expensive, and why myFICO can't devise an affordable daily monitoring service! The CRA's know a good thing when they see it, and for consumers who don't know about FICO's, or don't want to pay, they'll be happy to sell you a different score that doesn't mean much of anything at all.

I don't see any reason to cancel a monitoring service, though, as long as it lets you update and access your reports daily. Their FAKO scores are unwanted icing on the cake. Scrape it off and keep the reports cake.

FWIW, my PLUS score is higher (makes sense; it has a higher range); two of my three TC scores are lower; and I'm pretty sure that my Vantage score was higher. It's been a while since I wasted my money to satisfy my curiosity on that one.

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:00:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I just checked......my real Fico Experian score is 613!

I was so proud of being so close to the 700 club. My Experian "Plus Score" is 692.

I am canceling my good for nothing monthly Experian monitoring

Shouldn't I just check the MyFico REAL score every couple moths or so than having that Experian monthly thing?

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 07-18-2008 12:23 AM

Message Edited by Jubeyy on 07-18-2008 02:28 AM

Aww. I had a similar experience last year, upon checking my FICO scores (after finding out that all credit scores were not the same!) and finding that the 733 Experian Plus score differed very wildly indeed from the actual FICO version.

I still use Credit Expert, though, but just take the scores with a pinch of salt - it IS very good for being able to see changes in my credit file, check when different CCCs have reported, etc etc - so not all bad, it does serve a useful purpose!

Re: What's the differance between Experian's Plus Score and FICO Scores?

Anonymous — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:49:41 GMT

Yeah, you are right. I will keep it for those reasons I suppose.

When they say "Plus" Score....they ain't kidding!! I'd rather have a "Minus" Score lol.