topic Re: Experian score alternative? in General Credit Topics

Experian score alternative?

TilltedBrim — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:50:18 GMT

I realize that I have no way to check my true Experian Fico score but which FAKO alternative would you suggest in order to see where Experian ranks with my two known scores? I know my EQ and TU and simply want to have an idea if EX is the highest, lowest, or in the middle. Would any of the FAKO's at tleast be able to give me some true insight of this? Or... do I have any other alternatives? Thank you in advance

Re: Experian score alternative?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:10:09 GMT

Short answer is no. I hear creditSesame is close for some people but worthless for others. If you have your fico 04 scores from tu and equifax and information is all the same on experian report, you are likely within 20-30 points of tu equifax. Where did you get tu score?

Re: Experian score alternative?

TilltedBrim — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:24:24 GMT

I get them here on myFico every month... But have absolutely no idea where my Experian score is. I'm trying to avoid any more inquiries until December when I have a few that are falling off.

Re: Experian score alternative?

languedoctor — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:28:22 GMT

I'd just check the EX information. If it's close to what you see on TU and EQ, your score will probably be close. If it's missing a negative item or two (as it is for me), then it might be higher. Or vice versa.

The problem with FAKO-->FICO is that they weight things differently. You might get dinged on a vantage score because your credit cards have low limits, even if your utilization is reasonable. To the best of my knowledge, FICO considers revolving debt, aggregate utilization, and individual account utilization - but to be the best of my knowledge it doesn't ding you for having a 1500 limit (instead of, say, 7000) on a given card. But vantage does. I believe EX Plus score does as well.

Save your sanity and don't try to convert one model to another.

Again, I think the best thing is just to compare EX info to EQ info. That might be the best way to get a (very) rough guesstimate of where EX FICO stands.

Re: Experian score alternative?

llecs — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:32:18 GMT

@languedoctor wrote:
I'd just check the EX information. If it's close to what you see on TU and EQ, your score will probably be close. If it's missing a negative item or two (as it is for me), then it might be higher. Or vice versa.

+1. That's what I did leading up to our mortgage. My TU is exactly the same as EX with the same accounts, dates, inquiries, payment history, etc. The only difference was the balances because TU always lags and I had to compensate for TU98's addition of my Amex into util. But come mortgage time, I guessed inside of 10 points what my EX FICO would be.

Re: Experian score alternative?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2012 18:54:58 GMT

I wouldn't buy the tu98 from here if looking for mortgage. Pretty much all lenders use tu04 vs tu98 sold here. Just make sure info is about or the same on all reports. Eq fico sold here will be best indicator. Rwt of scores will be with 20-30 points. Basically just depends on utilization. If you have Amex charge card, then just use that for month or two while in mortgage process.

Re: Experian score alternative?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2012 19:05:19 GMT

I'd go with USAA. It's a FAKO, but seeing your report is helpful and the inquiries, baddies, or whatever tend to be pretty accurate.

My true FICO tends to run 5-20 points higher than USAA's Plus Score. Found this out in Jan; applied for an Amex and they gave me 741 compared to USAA's 725. Right now it's showing 750 but there's really no telling how much it differs from actual FICO. I'm not applying for anything just to find out, LOL!

There's also a great deal going on from USAA.

Re: Experian score alternative?

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:57:22 GMT

Its a simple calsulation, 1st check the EX information. If it's close to what you see on TU & EQ, your score will probably be close. If it's missing a negative item or two , then it might be higher.