topic Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 20:56:33 GMT

Just curious since I started to rebuild my credit and the only service using is myFico. Since Late December, my Experian score is around 690 while Equifax and TransUnion are in the 660s. Is this normal? I see all my credit card companies reports to all three with the same information, etc.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

myjourney — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:18:00 GMT

Welcome to the forum

Sorry to say yes this is normal and will always vary with each CB

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 05:42:58 GMT

Yes agreed this is normal. Reason being is even though all three scores are FICO8, each Credit Agency has a little proprietary twist on the basic FICO8 algorithm.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Thomas_Thumb — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 13:49:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Just curious since I started to rebuild my credit and the only service using is myFico. Since Late December, my Experian score is around 690 while Equifax and TransUnion are in the 660s. Is this normal? I see all my credit card companies reports to all three with the same information, etc.

Fico 08 limits customizing of the scoring model by the CRAs substantially relative to Fico 04 and Fico 98. IF you have identical data on each of your CRA files, a spread on scores of 10 to 20 points is pretty standard for Fico 08 Classic scores. However, a 30 point difference would be an indication to me that you may have a difference in CRA file data that is an influencing factor as opposed to just CRA model tweaks.

I see differences in # closed accounts and AAoA in my files. I also see differences in aggregate CL due to one CRA including a card's CL while another does not (perhaps due to inactivity). Are you an AU on any cards? I believe some posters have been experienced a loss of CLs on AU cards relative to aggregate CL.

Here is a recent example:

A poster, SJ, reported one CRA scoring him 30 points lower than the other two CRAs. Files appeared to be essentially the same. However, upon closer inspecion:

1) The two CRAs reporting higher score correctly listed his small installment loan amount at $500 with a balance of $78 as I recall.[amount of debt = Excellent]

2) The CRA reporting the lower score incorrectly listed the installment loan amount at $100 with a balance of $78.[amount of debt = Very Good]

This was SJ's only installment loan. The reported balance is correct with all CRAs but the scoring metric is based on % not amount.

1)In #1 balance to loan ratio is 15.6% => no score ding, remaing balance as a % of loan is not high

2) In #2 balance to loan ratio is 78% => score ding relating to high remaining balance %

Inquiry note:

Credit card issuers and Credit Unions typically pull a report from only one CRA when you apply for new credit/membership. These pulls result in a hard inquiry on only some CRA reports but not others. The same may be true for personal loans and auto loans. Check your reports for differences in hard inquiry count relating to the last 12 months. If you are an "active" credit seeker, inquiry count differences may explain some of your point difference.

For example, one poster reported 9 inquiries less than 12 months old on one CRA report, 3 inquiries on the 2nd report and 0 on the 3rd report. A report with 9 inquiries certainly could score 15 to 20 points less than a report with 0 inquiries.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

SouthJamaica — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 14:50:03 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Just curious since I started to rebuild my credit and the only service using is myFico. Since Late December, my Experian score is around 690 while Equifax and TransUnion are in the 660s. Is this normal? I see all my credit card companies reports to all three with the same information, etc.
Fico 08 limits customizing of the scoring model by the CRAs substantially relative to Fico 04 and Fico 98. IF you have identical data on each of your CRA files, a spread on scores of 10 to 20 points is pretty standard for Fico 08 Classic scores. However, a 30 point difference would be an indication to me that you may have a difference in CRA file data that is an influencing factor as opposed to just CRA model tweaks.

I see differences in # closed accounts and AAoA in my files. I also see differences in aggregate CL due to one CRA including a card's CL while another does not (perhaps due to inactivity). Are you an AU on any cards? I believe some posters have been experienced a loss of CLs on AU cards relative to aggregate CL.

Here is a recent example:

A poster, SJ, reported one CRA scoring him 30 points lower than the other two CRAs. Files appeared to be essentially the same. However, upon closer inspecion:
1) The two CRAs reporting higher score correctly listed his small installment loan amount at $500 with a balance of $78 as I recall.[amount of debt = Excellent]
2) The CRA reporting the lower score incorrectly listed the installment loan amount at $100 with a balance of $78.[amount of debt = Very Good]

This was SJ's only installment loan. The reported balance is correct with all CRAs but the scoring metric is based on % not amount.
1)In #1 balance to loan ratio is 15.6% => no score ding, remaing balance as a % of loan is not high
2) In #2 balance to loan ratio is 78% => score ding relating to high remaining balance %

Inquiry note:

Credit card issuers and Credit Unions typically pull a report from only one CRA when you apply for new credit/membership. These pulls result in a hard inquiry on only some CRA reports but not others. The same may be true for personal loans and auto loans. Check your reports for differences in hard inquiry count relating to the last 12 months. If you are an "active" credit seeker, inquiry count differences may explain some of your point difference.

For example, one poster reported 9 inquiries less than 12 months old on one CRA report, 3 inquiries on the 2nd report and 0 on the 3rd report. A report with 9 inquiries certainly could score 15 to 20 points less than a report with 0 inquiries.

Good memory Thomas

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 21:36:26 GMT

TT has just given a concrete example of something I have seen dozens of time here. A person thinks he has identical data, but there are small differences that could make a big difference. Even if the accounts are identical, there might be a "date opened" that is in error on one account on one report.

Even when you feel certain that there must be something different between two reports, it can take hours to find the difference -- and this happened with me in recent memory. (There was one card reporting as $0 on two CRAs and $5 on another. All three reports had the same total utilization and even the $5 card was showing an individual U of 0% according to the reporting tool.)

I agree with TT that the customization issue was much more likely to create significant differences in earlier models. When I last pulled all my scores, my reports now did have exactly identical data and my FICO 8 Classic scores are all within 1 point of each other. My reports are clean, fairly low util, and don't have any unusual accounts; so perhaps the Customization Variance kicks in more if the reports have lates or if there are strange accounts.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 00:40:59 GMT

I don't know about that. I will sit down in a week or so and scrutinise my credit report.

But on a quick view

Experian FICO8: 820

Accounts: 10

AAoA: 9.2yrs

Inquiry less than 1yr: 1

Equifax FICO8: 839

Accounts: 9

AAoA: 8.9yrs

Inquiry less than 1yr: 0

Only account that Experian has is a clean closed credit card account that is like 14yrs old, that fell off. All accounts appear to be reporting same. I doubt one inquiry is causing a 19 point difference. Experian has always lagged behind scoring wise for me.

Now I do have a AU card reporting to both of these CRA's but it is identical info. Also have a joint account reporting with identical info.

I'm not really worried about it, but I just don't see a 19 point disparity on the Experian credit report. Which leads me to believe there is some tweaking by each CRA.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Thomas_Thumb — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 01:33:46 GMT

Slimshady66,

Thanks for sharing your data.

Best I can tell is once AAoA reaches 8 years no more points are available in this category (or from my viewpoint execution is satisfied so no points deducted). However, inquiries are another matter entirely. Inquiries are binned into groups for scoring and the top group is zero. So, the single inquiry is almost certainly costing you 5 points. Inquiry bins have not been verified relative to Fico 08 but my guess is they may be:

1) 0

2) 1 - 2

3) 3 - 4

4) 5 - 9

5) 10 or more

Note: Since inquiries can be coded as a group (as with auto loan or mortgage applications), a count only review on a CRA report can be misleading.

Factoring in a 5 point deduct brings your scores between the two CRAs to within 15 points.

Let us know if you see any other differences after reviewing details.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 15:46:10 GMT

Thomas_Thumb Thanks for your experienced take on it.

I agree the one inquiry is costing me at least 5 points. So, in reality, your right, there is a 15 point disparity.

I am also aware, the higher your score the more volatile events effect it. Will go over the credit reports next week sometime, see if I can figure it out.

On another note, the 8 and 9 year AAoA was reported by CCT. However when I pull myFICO reports, the AU appears not to count which drops my AAoA in the 6 year range. But the FICO8 scores are the same between MyFico and CCT. Weird, but whatever, not loosing sleep over it.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 20:42:04 GMT

I just got my monthly 3B pull from CCT so I can add some data to the discussion. There is a 17 point difference between my TU score and my EX score with identical data. Addtional note: All files have 3 inquiries in the last 12 months.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:44:57 GMT

Yep, that certainly does look right to me. The screenshot is the thing that I find helpful. It gives me much more confidence that your EX and TU really do have identical data. When people just attest in a general way to the data being the same it feel valueless to me because it is just so easy to miss a small difference. The screenshot is pretty convincing, however, especially the exact dollar value of debt.

I wonder what it is about a profile that caused one's three FICO 8 Classic scores to all hover within a point of each other, as mine do, versus a profile where there is a significant difference. (Assuming both people have identical data across their respective reports.) Perhaps it is your relatively low AAoA (relative to your AOA). Maybe the tweak to the Experian model weights AAoA more importantly, especially if it is wildly different from AOA. I'd be curious whether your two scores get any closer when your AAoA crosses over 4.0. Actually when I pull my scores again in the fall my AAoA will be a lot lower, so maybe I will see a score difference then too.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 01:15:44 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yep, that certainly does look right to me. The screenshot is the thing that I find helpful. It gives me much more confidence that your EX and TU really do have identical data. When people just attest in a general way to the data being the same it feel valueless to me because it is just so easy to miss a small difference. The screenshot is pretty convincing, however, especially the exact dollar value of debt.

I wonder what it is about a profile that caused one's three FICO 8 Classic scores to all hover within a point of each other, as mine do, versus a profile where there is a significant difference. (Assuming both people have identical data across their respective reports.) Perhaps it is your relatively low AAoA (relative to your AOA). Maybe the tweak to the Experian model weights AAoA more importantly, especially if it is wildly different from AOA. I'd be curious whether your two scores get any closer when your AAoA crosses over 4.0. Actually when I pull my scores again in the fall my AAoA will be a lot lower, so maybe I will see a score difference then too.

Before my tax lien vanished from Experian my EX and EQ scores were identical. When it appeared in all three, TU was always the higher score.

Re: Score Reported Differently for Fico Score 8?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 14:45:11 GMT

For CreditGuyinDixie and Captool

Here is the image of mine using CCT.

Note the Experian and Equifax data.

Think I will make it a priority to see if I can get the AU reporting on TU.

Maybe it has something to do with having less than 10 accounts? Otherwise I see disparity between EX and EQ

Another interesting tidbit, on CCT AAoA is factoring in my AU on CRA that have it on file. On MyFICO the score sheets are omitting the AU card for AAoA and indicates so. Same score on both CCT and MyFico.

(AU card not reporting on TU)

(1 inquiry under year) (2 inquiries under year) (0 inquiries under year)

(10 accnts 9.2yrs AAoA) (8 accnts 6yrs AAoA) (9 accnts 8.9yrs AAoA)