topic Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 05:58:25 GMT

Hello everyone.

So I️ know sources like Credit Karma are not reputable sources to base off your credit score. But after requesting a CLI from Discover, It said my FICO is 711. And I️ was curious as to where my credit scores for TU and EQ stand, I redownloaded CK, and it currently says, TU: 593 and EQ:655.

I️ am freaking out at how my TU could have gotten in the 500s, but they reported my cards with balances before I️ paid in full. (I️ also still have not been 100% sure when to pay in full, as in like after post date, before post date???)

So I️ am generally curious as these scores all have a very big difference. I️ am in the process of cleaning out my report such as removing myself from authorized user accounts that are affecting my credit usage. (and yes, my scores have dropped due to some of them being longer accounts opened, but I️ am trying to have my report based on only my usage. not cards I️ do not use but are still showing up on my reports).

I️ am aiming to move out in early 2020 and get an apartment, but due to my family issues, I️ am also getting my car taken away that my parents got as a gift. So between cars and apartment, I️ want to make sure I️ am aware of where I️ stand on my credit scores. I️ also know there are different FICOs, so if anyone has any info on what exactly they run at dealerships/used car dealerships?

I️ am also sorry if I️ seem uneducated to some.. I️ am removing myself from my family and managing everything on my own has been hard. I know walking into the dealership as a woman in my 20s is a recipe for a disaster so any advice is also greatly appreciated. I️ have been browsing the FICO Forum community and have made some notes here and there..

Thank you to anyone who has read this far.

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

thornback — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 06:53:16 GMT

Hi CGR,

(Note: I read your entire post but I'm going to answer the questions about getting your scores first... I'll do a second post for the other Qs).

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone.
So I️ know sources like Credit Karma are not reputable sources to base off your credit score. But after requesting a CLI from Discover, It said my FICO is 711. And I️ was curious as to where my credit scores for TU and EQ stand, I redownloaded CK, and it currently says, TU: 593 and EQ:655.

It's not that Credit Karma scores are not reputable, they are just rarely, if ever, used by lenders and, because they are based on the Vantage 3 scoring model, they weigh / calculate various aspects of your credit differently than FICO. It is common to see score variances of up to +/- 100 points when comparing Vantage to FICO. Use Credit Karma as a free resource for monitoring your credit report activity on a regular basis (ie. balance changes, new accounts, etc.) - but you can pretty much ignore the scores. The majority of of lenders use some version of FICO for making credit decisions, so those are the scores with which you should concern yourself.

The score provided inside your Discover account Dashboard is your Transunion FICO 8 and it is updated monthly.

Discover also offers a free Experian FICO 8 monthly and the service is available to anyone https://www.discover.com/free-credit-score/ -- it will require a separate sign up than your credit card account.

To get your FICO 8 scores for all three bureaus (namely, Equifax since the other two are covered by Disco), you will need to sign up for a paid service such as Experian.com (Experian CreditWorks), CreditCheckTotal.com, or myFICO.com.

CreditCheckTotal and Experian.com are the same thing (Experian owns CreditCheckTotal) -- but if you go through the CreditCheckTotal website, you will be offered a $1 / 7-day trial. You must cancel before the trial ends so not to be charged for a full month (which I believe is ~$30).

If you sign up for Experian's CreditWorks service, you'll receive daily updated scores & reports for Experian with monthly udpated scores & reports for Transunion and Equifax for (I think) $24.99 per month.

myFICO.com is much more expensive at $40 per month, but that is because it provides all 28 versions of your FICO scores (includes FICO 8, FICO 9, Bankcard, Mortgage, and Auto scores) plus alerts to any score / report changes throughout the month.

And you do not sound uneducated at all! Asking questions is the best thing you can do - so please never hesitate. Keep reading the forums and feel free to ask any questions that come to mind - we're all here to help eachother

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

thornback — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 06:47:21 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

I️ am freaking out at how my TU could have gotten in the 500s, but they reported my cards with balances before I️ paid in full. (I️ also still have not been 100% sure when to pay in full, as in like after post date, before post date???)

In general, you should try to pay your statement balances in full each month by the Payment Due Date noted on your monthly statement.

However, if you are trying to manage utilization by controlling how much of a balance gets reported to the bureaus each month, then you will need to make a payment before your Statement Closing Date to bring your balance down to the desired amount, and then pay whatever is left over by the Payment Due Date. You also need to keep in mind the utilization thresholds that pertain to FICO scoring. Each time you cross above / below a threshold, you stand to lose / gain 10-15 points in score.

The thresholds are (red is too high): 88.9%, 68.9%, 48.9%, 28.9%, 8.9%

The utilization thresholds apply to both aggregate and individual card utilization. You should try keep your aggregate utilization (total balances / total amount of credit) in a low range - below 28.9% is good, below 8.9% is ideal for optimum scoring. Individual util (card balance / card credit limit) should be kept below 28.9%.

For example:
Sample card A has a credit limit of $300 and a balance of $250. The billing cycle was from September 24th through the October 23rd. The Due Date is November 20th (assuming there is a 30-day grace period). The Statement Closing Date is the last date of the billing cycle - so October 23rd. This means I need to pay down my $250 balance to below 28.9% (less than $86) before October 23rd so my statement will reflect the lower balance which will be reported to the credit bureaus for that month. Then, after the statement cuts, I will pay the remaining $86 before the November 20th Due Date so I pay no interest.

@Anonymous wrote:

I️ am in the process of cleaning out my report such as removing myself from authorized user accounts that are affecting my credit usage. (and yes, my scores have dropped due to some of them being longer accounts opened, but I️ am trying to have my report based on only my usage. not cards I️ do not use but are still showing up on my reports). << Good for you. Building a solid history all of your own is good -- your scores will recover in time, just be patient.

I️ also know there are different FICOs, so if anyone has any info on what exactly they run at dealerships/used car dealerships?

Dealerships are likely to use one of your FICO Auto Scores -- but which Auto Score version (FICO 5, 4, 2, 8 or 9) depends on the dealership / loan lender. myFICO.com is the only site that will provide you with all of your Auto Score versions from all three bureaus.

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:26:14 GMT

Excellent responses from @thornback.

The only thing I would add about getting your FICO credit scores is that if you download the Experian mobile app and enroll first in the free version of their credit monitoring called Experian CreditWorks Basic you will be offered CreditWorks Premium free for one month. Also, the monthly subscription cost for CreditWorks Premium when you enroll through the app is $19.99 instead of the $24.99 charged when you sign up through their website.

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

thornback — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:31:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Excellent responses from @thornback.

The only thing I would add about getting your FICO credit scores is that if you download the Experian mobile app and enroll first in the free version of their credit monitoring called Experian CreditWorks Basic you will be offered CreditWorks Premium free for one month. Also, the monthly subscription cost for CreditWorks Premium when you enroll through the app is $19.99 instead of the $24.99 charged when you sign up through their website.

Ahh.. Thank you for that! I took advantage of an annual membership discount they offered some time ago so haven't paid monthly in a while -- didn't know about all these backend price deals

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

AllZero — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 08:04:44 GMT

Excellent advice from above.

For car financing, are you a member of a credit union? If not, I would suggest you join one e.g.:
DCU Digital Credit Union - open membership. EQ Soft pull to join.
PenFed Pentagon Federal Credit Union - open membership. EQ Hard pull to join.
NFCU Navy Federal Credit Union - membership restrictions. TU soft pull to join.

Credit Unions in general offer competitive auto loan rates. Depending on credit worthiness, you can get pre-approval without getting your credit report plastered with multiple hard pull inquiries compared to a dealership.

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

AllZero — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 07:58:58 GMT

I would recommend visiting the auto loans forum too.

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Auto-Loans/bd-p/autoloans

Re: What/Where would I️ find my REAL credit score?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 28 Oct 2019 15:29:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello everyone.

So I️ know sources like Credit Karma are not reputable sources to base off your credit score. But after requesting a CLI from Discover, It said my FICO is 711. And I️ was curious as to where my credit scores for TU and EQ stand, I redownloaded CK, and it currently says, TU: 593 and EQ:655.
I️ am freaking out at how my TU could have gotten in the 500s, but they reported my cards with balances before I️ paid in full. (I️ also still have not been 100% sure when to pay in full, as in like after post date, before post date???)
So I️ am generally curious as these scores all have a very big difference. I️ am in the process of cleaning out my report such as removing myself from authorized user accounts that are affecting my credit usage. (and yes, my scores have dropped due to some of them being longer accounts opened, but I️ am trying to have my report based on only my usage. not cards I️ do not use but are still showing up on my reports).

I️ am aiming to move out in early 2020 and get an apartment, but due to my family issues, I️ am also getting my car taken away that my parents got as a gift. So between cars and apartment, I️ want to make sure I️ am aware of where I️ stand on my credit scores. I️ also know there are different FICOs, so if anyone has any info on what exactly they run at dealerships/used car dealerships?

I️ am also sorry if I️ seem uneducated to some.. I️ am removing myself from my family and managing everything on my own has been hard. I know walking into the dealership as a woman in my 20s is a recipe for a disaster so any advice is also greatly appreciated. I️ have been browsing the FICO Forum community and have made some notes here and there..

Thank you to anyone who has read this far.

1. Forget the Vantage scores; they are not meaningful.

2. You can get all your real FICO scores from MyFICO; but it is expensive. Their 2 monitoring services provide frequent updates of the FICO 8 scores from 3 bureaus, and provide a full report of all your FICO scores (a) once a month if you pay $40 a month + tax, or (b) once per quarter if you pay $30 month + tax.