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experian plus score

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tayjoemom2628
Valued Member

experian plus score

My fico ex score is 674. I just checked experiab plus score and it said myscore is 637. How accurate is the plus score

Message 1 of 12
11 REPLIES 11
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: experian plus score

I suppose that you could say that it's accurate, if only you knew what it was measuring.

It's derived from a completely different formula from a FICO score, including a different score range.

No lenders use it, as they admit themselves. (Slide down the score section to where you get to the gobbledygook.)
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 2 of 12
score_building
Senior Contributor

Re: experian plus score


@tayjoemom2628 wrote:

My fico ex score is 674. I just checked experiab plus score and it said myscore is 637. How accurate is the plus score


 

since the ex plus score isn't used by lenders it is pretty much considered to be just a number- but like a real fico score it reportedly aims to accurately predict risk level to lenders. 

 

in your case, the real fico is the higher score, and that is good news for you!

DCU EQ 5.0, Citi EQ 08 Bankcard, PenFed EX NG2
EX 08: AFCU, Amex, Chase, PSECU EX 98(?)
TU 08: Barclays, Discover
Message 3 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: experian plus score


@tayjoemom2628 wrote:

My fico ex score is 674. I just checked experiab plus score and it said myscore is 637. How accurate is the plus score


 

When considering a need to know your standing in a financial decission making process, I'd say Experial Plua was even more harmful that it is worthless.
Message 4 of 12
tayjoemom2628
Valued Member

Re: experian plus score

I don't understand it. It has the seem info as fico but it scores differently. Does anyone knows what they actually look at?
Message 5 of 12
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: experian plus score

Experian "plus score" is Experian's attempt to do their own "fico-style" scoring, after purchasing a subsidiary statistical scoring / modeling company about 5 years ago.  The bottom line for the "plus score" was probably to retain revenue that was going to Fair-Issac prior to the purchase of the subsidiary.

 

It's a shame that there are so many scoring models people have to contend with, it kinda washes out the objectivity of a "credit score", when you can buy a different credit score for yourself on every street corner.

Message 6 of 12
haulingthescoreup
Moderator Emerita

Re: experian plus score


tayjoemom2628 wrote:

I don't understand it. It has the seem info as fico but it scores differently. Does anyone knows what they actually look at?

Well, I suppose you can think of the different score formulas as being like high schoolers checking each other out.

They're all looking at the same thing, but they're going to give different importance to things like height, weight, eye color, smart, jock, cute, friendly, snobby, blah blah blah. (So glad not to be a teenager any more!) So several different kids will all rate the one they're checking out completely differently, according to their tastes, or lack of taste, lol. The same thing happens with the different formulas: they're all evaluating the same info on your credit reports, but they weight it differently, and on top of which, they have different score ranges.

As to why various businesses have invented all these FAKO scores, let's just say that many Americans have a vague awareness that there's something called a credit score, and they're supposed to know their own, and they will typically buy the first one(s) they stumble across.

In other words, there's gold in them thar hills when it comes to selling scores to consumers. Caveat emptor.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
Message 7 of 12
MattH
Senior Contributor

Re: experian plus score


@haulingthescoreup wrote:

@tayjoemom2628 wrote:

I don't understand it. It has the seem info as fico but it scores differently. Does anyone knows what they actually look at?

Well, I suppose you can think of the different score formulas as being like high schoolers checking each other out.

They're all looking at the same thing, but they're going to give different importance to things like height, weight, eye color, smart, jock, cute, friendly, snobby, blah blah blah. (So glad not to be a teenager any more!) So several different kids will all rate the one they're checking out completely differently, according to their tastes, or lack of taste, lol. The same thing happens with the different formulas: they're all evaluating the same info on your credit reports, but they weight it differently, and on top of which, they have different score ranges.

As to why various businesses have invented all these FAKO scores, let's just say that many Americans have a vague awareness that there's something called a credit score, and they're supposed to know their own, and they will typically buy the first one(s) they stumble across.

In other words, there's gold in them thar hills when it comes to selling scores to consumers. Caveat emptor.

 

Actually, from my experience as a teaching assistant in graduate school the analogy I use for the variations among CRAs in FICO scores is that of instructors in a multi-section course.  All of us tried hard to be fair and objective, but of course each of us had different criteria and philosophies when it came to evaluating our students' work.  One key lesson I learned early on was do not alphabetize until AFTER grading the papers, because after hours of reading undergraduate prose I tended to get cranky and ding them more points for making the same errors as countless other students.  It was hardly Ms. Zipersky's fault her name began with a "Z."  Anyhow, we all graded on a curve so we'd come out with similar proportions of A, B, C, and D grades, but details would differ for individual students.

 

In the same way, Fair Isaac works hard to make the overall distribution very similar for all three CRAs, but since they weight various factors differently an individual is likely to get somewhat different scores even if the underlying data are identical (which they might not be).  From comparing my own reports and postings I've seen here, I believe EX gives greater weight to percentage of available revolving credit utilized while the others give greater weight to the total amount owed and number of accounts with balances.  In my case this means EX is always my highest score: my wife and I have good jobs and high-limit cards which we use very heavily because we carry very little cash, and then we pay them in full every month.  So our balances look fairly large to the FICO formula, and we use every card every month, but our percentage utilization is low.

 

Of course, due to their execrable decision not to allow pulling scores through myfico anymore because they want to push their PLUS and VANTAGE scores (which are FAKOs), from now on I will no longer be able to compare my EX score anymore.Smiley Mad

 

TU 791 02/11/2013, EQ 800 1/29/2011 , EX Plus FAKO 812, EX Vantage Score 955 3/19/2010 wife's EQ 9/23/2009 803
EX always was my highest when we could pull all three
Always remember: big print giveth, small print taketh away
If you dunno what tanstaafl means you must Google it
Message 8 of 12
smallfry
Senior Contributor

Re: experian plus score

The formula and weighting is different than FICO. It doesn't mean it's worthless. Remember the lenders do not for the most part use the scores you pay for at this site either.
Message 9 of 12
MattH
Senior Contributor

Re: experian plus score


@smallfry wrote:
The formula and weighting is different than FICO. It doesn't mean it's worthless. Remember the lenders do not for the most part use the scores you pay for at this site either.

 

Actually, the scores from this site ARE used by the majority of mortgage lenders.  Fair Isaac is on record as saying when the majority of mortgage lenders switch to their newer version then this site will begin offering their newer version.  It is true that we cannot pull some other scores such as the "Auto-Enhanced" variant, but what we pull here is indeed what most mortgage lenders use.

 

TU 791 02/11/2013, EQ 800 1/29/2011 , EX Plus FAKO 812, EX Vantage Score 955 3/19/2010 wife's EQ 9/23/2009 803
EX always was my highest when we could pull all three
Always remember: big print giveth, small print taketh away
If you dunno what tanstaafl means you must Google it
Message 10 of 12
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