AMEX says my FICO is VERY different than my latest report shows

[Itsmeagain]

+1

Kudos Robert.  Most concise and logical explanation I've ever seen about the differences in scoring models.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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@Itsmeagain wrote:

+1

Kudos Robert.  Most concise and logical explanation I've ever seen about the differences in scoring models.

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Agreed!

And a hearty "Congratulations" to RobertEG for his 4000th post, too! 

[haulingthescoreup]

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woozy wrote:

Experian has their own FAKO service, ProtectMyId.

Soooo...why would a CB give out FAKO scores that vary significantly from real scores. I don't see the advantage.

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Because every time they sell a consumer a FAKO, they make money, and they don't have to share it.

FICO's cost money. If you buy them here, part of the money goes to the CRA. If you buy your EQ FICO from the Equifax website, or your TU FICO from www.transunioncs.com (note the -cs at the end), they have to pay part to FICO.

If a credit-monitoring service invents their own scores, they keep all the profit.

Caveat emptor...

[Jazzzy]

Personally, I think it's OK to monitor your credit reports through these monitoring services. I wouldn't put any thought or effort into their "credit scores," however.

For example, TUs TransRisk score gives great points for having 40+ accounts. FICO dings you for that.

I want to be looking at what the banks look at...FICOs. I don't want to model my credit after a score that could hurt me in the end because it rewards actions that are opposite of building a good FICO.

[DI]

No need to purchase FICO scores more than once a year.  Those FAKO scores credit monitoring sites are worth using for eyeing your reports daily. 

[Anonymous]

There is no single "flavor" of FICO.

Any lender may use or request their preferred version.  Just as there are "auto enhanced" or "bankcard enhanced" and Beacon vs. XYZ, some lenders will use variants that are more or less conservative in order to fulfill their lending and risk policies.

AMEX is one of the very conservative.  Generally, AMEX is one that you would do well to have a 780 or higher on the FICO you pull from this site.  Yes, there are those who report getting with lower scores.  But score alone does not dictate approval.  AMEX looks at actual data items, balances, HISTORICAL balances, age of accounts, number of new accounts and the your income, DTI (using housing payment info), etc.

TrueCredit has nothing to do with AMEX, and is a Transunion product.  AMEX uses almost exclusively, Experian.  AMEX also has their own internal risk model and scoring system, in addition to anything they may receive from the CRA's.  AMEX has the most robust and mature internal risk analysis system that I am aware of. 

AMEX does not like thin files, historical high balances, new accounts, lots of fixed paymetns (installment) and current balances (on too many accounts or too much in total $).

IMO IME