Buckets

[Anonymous]

Since I have evidently been put into a new better bucket.

How fast do your points go up once you are in a better bucket?

 I have been dabbling around 630 to 658 for the past year with perfect current history and a store credit card (low balance) but evidently not a major credit card is the reason so low.

And I guess that now that I was 2 points away from 660 they put me in new bucket?

Can anyone explain.

Thanks.

[cadavis0609]

I've never heard of this term.

[fused]

Ah FICO scoring buckets, what a great topic! One of my favorites to discuss. Buckets exist to ensure everyone is on a level playing field. Everyone is placed in a particular bucket and is compared to or competing with others who have a similar credit file. Which bucket you are placed in is determined by these factors.

Age of your file (credit length history and average-age of accounts)

Thickness of your file (total number of accounts reporting)

Any Serious Derogatory items reporting (90+ late, CO, Collections, Public Record or a BK)

New account(s) reporting (less than 12 months old)

I think it's high time you get yourself a couple of major/bank CCs. What bad stuff do you have on your reports. Any serious derogs reporting, especially within the last four years? You gave a range in scores, can you list each score with the corresponding CRA.

Message Edited by fused on 11-12-2007 08:23 AM

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Since I have evidently been put into a new better bucket.

How fast do your points go up once you are in a better bucket?

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I wish I knew for sure. I changed bucket addresses back on October 16. EQ went down 15 points, EQ and TU 7-8 points each. In three and a half weeks, EQ has come up 3 points, and TU and EQ 4 or 5 (they had some other stuff happening.) Sorry --I feel your pain! I was sniffing 700 with EX.

[Anonymous]

I think my buckets have changed. How do I find out for sure and what are the differences between buckets?

[haulingthescoreup]

Do you have Score Watch, either from here or from Equifax?

[cobra]

How do you know you've been put into a new bucket?

[Anonymous]

If I am not mistaking (correct me anyone if I am wrong), when you sign up for Scorewatch they have different levels like from 350-500, 500-619, 620-670 so on and so forth. Ithose might not be the right scores used but there is a part that shows what scores you need to qualify for a different rate. If you sign up for scorewatch they tell you when you qualify for a better rate.

To me that seems like their buckets. I could be wrong though--it's just a theory.

[Anonymous]

That would be too easy! But good theory anyway...

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

If I am not mistaking (correct me anyone if I am wrong), when you sign up for Scorewatch they have different levels like from 350-500, 500-619, 620-670 so on and so forth. Ithose might not be the right scores used but there is a part that shows what scores you need to qualify for a different rate. If you sign up for scorewatch they tell you when you qualify for a better rate.

To me that seems like their buckets. I could be wrong though--it's just a theory.

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Buckets aren't score-driven. It's more like how long have you had credit, or how many BK's have you had, or stuff like that. The idea is that you are being compared to people in similar credit situations. Another term is scorepools.

Edit: Whoops, fused has this in msg 3 of this very thread that we are on:

Age of your file (credit length history and average-age of accounts)
Thickness of your file (total number of accounts reporting)
Any Serious Derogatory items reporting (90+ late, CO, Collections, Public Record or a BK)
New account(s) reporting (less than 12 months old)

People could be in the same bucket, and one has a 640, and another has a 740. Or two people could both have a 650 and be in completely different buckets (like one is a 19-year-old in college with 2 cards, and the other has had credit for 20 years, has a zillion tradelines, but BK's, collections, and lates.)

Type bucket in the search box and look for stuff fused has posted. This is his obsession. Well, that and Chase and Sears. And Spam. mmmm, Spam.....

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 11-13-2007 05:26 PM