All Cards Reports Zero Question

[Anonymous]

I keep reading everyone say that FICO will take a hit when all cards report $0.  Are there reasons when this would not be true.  I can't say that's I've ever seen this myself.  I generally just pay the card or 2 I use a coulple times a month and the statements will post at $0.  Score has been hovering between 818/819.  So this month I let my Chase Amazon Prime  post with a balance.  Total utilization 2-3$.  The Chase Card was probably about 17% (Use this card for everything except the category that is currently 5% on Discover).  I took a 7 point hit in FICO from TU which is reported through Chase.  I have let just my Chase post a balace in previous months but it doesn't seem lift score either.  Might drop a point or 2 actually.  I suppose the 17% on Chase  might be the larger part of a 7 point ding.

Any thoughts?

I know it doesn't make much difference with the good of a score, but I'm just playing around for best scenario before big purchase this spring.  It took a lot of work to get scores where they are now vs dismall scores early in marriage so it feels pretty good to keep them there.

[Anonymous]

Chase's Credit Journey gives you Vantage scores and not FICOs.  You don't need to be concerned with ANY minor change in your VS scores.

[Anonymous]

Where is the best place to get plain old FICO score?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Where is the best place to get plain old FICO score?

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If you want to see your real FICO 8 scores across all 3 bureaus, a recommended place is Credit Check Total and you can do this for $1.  Be sure to cancel before your trial ends.

[Anonymous]

Thanks I may try that site.  I just noticed one of my cards reports a FICO Bankcard Score 9.  Is that different from plain old FICO score?  I see you have FICO 8 in your sig.

Edit:  This card used Experian for the score.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks I may try that site.  I just noticed one of my cards reports a FICO Bankcard Score 9.  Is that different from plain old FICO score?  I see you have FICO 8 in your sig.

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Yes.  The plain old FICO 8 models are sometimes called your beacon scores. There are many different versions and scores for each bureau.    Some are industry enhanced scores.  There is a plain old FICO 9 model also but IMO, not as widely used as the FICO 8 model.

[MrCrabs]

You can get your Experian FICO 8 by registering on their website for free, also Discover IT gives you a free Transunion FICO 8, not sure what options there are for Equifax though.

[iv]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Yes.  The plain old FICO 8 models are sometimes called your beacon scores.

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No. They are not. (Not correctly, anyway!)

BEACON is an Equifax brand name for all their FICO Classic and FICO Classic industry option scores, just as Pinnacle is the Equifax brand name for FICO NextGen. (Or like Transunion used Empirica as a brand for their FICO scores.). 

Thankfully, the those "FICO Score X" terminology has largely replaced per-CRA brandnames at this point, getting rid of the insanity that was "Equifax BEACON 09" being the brand name for Equifax FICO Score 8, and other craziness. (Like Experian Risk Model v2 being FICO 98, Equifax BEACON 96 being FICO 98, or both Equifax BEACON 5.0 and Transunion Empirica 04 being FICO 04....)

Below is a chart of the old and new names for each common FICO scoring model - you can see why the standardization was a good thing!

(Industry option naming/numbering follows the style of the base score.)

Model	EQ	TU	EX	Standardized name
FICO 95	BEACON	EMPIRICA	Risk Model
FICO 98	BEACON 96	EMPIRICA FICO Classic 98	Risk Model V2	Score 2 (EX only)
NextGen 1	Pinnacle 1.0	Precision/NextGen	Advanced Risk Score 1.0
NextGen 2	Pinnacle 2.0	Precision/NextGen 03	Advanced Risk Score 2.0
FICO 04	BEACON 5.0	EMPIRICA FICO Classic 04	Risk Model V3	Score 5 (EQ only) Score 4 (TU only) Score 3 (EX only)
FICO 08/ FICO 8	BEACON 09	FICO Classic 08	Risk Model 08	Score 8 (all CRAs)
FICO 9	FICO Score 9	FICO Score 9	FICO Score 9	Score 9 (all CRAs)

[Anonymous]

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@iv wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Yes.  The plain old FICO 8 models are sometimes called your beacon scores.

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No. They are not. (Not correctly, anyway!)

BEACON is an Equifax brand name for all their FICO Classic and FICO Classic industry option scores, just as Pinnacle is the Equifax brand name for FICO NextGen. (Or like Transunion used Empirica as a brand for their FICO scores.). 

Thankfully, the those "FICO Score X" terminology has largely replaced per-CRA brandnames at this point, getting rid of the insanity that was "Equifax BEACON 09" being the brand name for Equifax FICO Score 8, and other craziness. (Like Experian Risk Model v2 being FICO 98, Equifax BEACON 96 being FICO 98, or both Equifax BEACON 5.0 and Transunion Empirica 04 being FICO 04....)

Below is a chart of the old and new names for each common FICO scoring model - you can see why the standardization was a good thing!

(Industry option naming/numbering follows the style of the base score.)

Model	EQ	TU	EX	Standardized name
FICO 95	BEACON	EMPIRICA	Risk Model
FICO 98	BEACON 96	EMPIRICA FICO Classic 98	Risk Model V2	Score 2 (EX only)
NextGen 1	Pinnacle 1.0	Precision/NextGen	Advanced Risk Score 1.0
NextGen 2	Pinnacle 2.0	Precision/NextGen 03	Advanced Risk Score 2.0
FICO 04	BEACON 5.0	EMPIRICA FICO Classic 04	Risk Model V3	Score 5 (EQ only) Score 4 (TU only) Score 3 (EX only)
FICO 08/ FICO 8	BEACON 09	FICO Classic 08	Risk Model 08	Score 8 (all CRAs)
FICO 9	FICO Score 9	FICO Score 9	FICO Score 9	Score 9 (all CRAs)

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TY for the correction.  I never quite picked up on the beacon score only referring to EQ.  I have heard people refer to it as beacon/classic but after your post I realize those names are bureau dependent.  I guess I'll have to watch the lingo going forward.  I'm glad it is a little more simplified now.  FICO 8 is beacon 9...lol! 

[Anonymous]

creditscore.com and creditscorecard.com are two sources for free EX FICO 8 scores that update every 30 days.  Sign up at both of these sources 2 weeks apart and you'll be able to get a fresh EX FICO 8 score every 2 weeks between the two for as long as you'd like.