MyFico for rebuilding credit

[Anonymous]

I've seen CK consistently mentioned on these forums. It seems that people use CK to monitor their scores and make decisions based on output from CK.

My question is why not use MyFico instead since it is the official scoring model that the three big agencies use? I have MyFico Premier and I don't really see a purpose to using CK.

Unless of course, CK was considerably cheaper? I'm into MyFico Premier for $40 a month, but I consider it a worthwhile expense to help me make decisions on how to best rebuild my credit. Almost like paying myself for "credit repair" so to speak.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Credit karma is free and has an excellent service to monitor your reports. I typically get alerts faster on credit karma than anywhere else. When it comes to getting your actual FICO scores, people recommend Experian because they offer a $1 trial to their service which provides FICOs from the big 3.

And just to clarify, FICO is a proprietary scoring model created by Fair Issac and Co. VantageScore is the official scoring model used by the big 3 as it was created by them, together, to compete with FICO. Both are important, while FICO is more important in the sense that it's used in 90% of all lending decisions. But, we have started to see lenders, such as synchrony, start to use VantageScore more. So it's a good idea to know what both scores are.

[thornback]

CK is free and updates weekly.  As a means of monitoring credit report activity and changes, it's great.  It is not, however, advised to use it for score monitoring as it is of the Vantage model.  You'll see often the first suggestion to a new forum member is to get their FICO scores.  

$40 per month can be costly for some folks -  so they may purchase the quarterly update package instead, or use one of Experian's monitoring services - one of which is free and provides monthly EX FICO updates.   Others may simply rely on free FICO scores provided by their card issuers or the Discover scorecard and monitor reports via sites like CK or Wallet Hub, or directly with Transunion and Equifax.

[Anonymous]

CK VantageScore is great as a complement to a FICO score because it reflects your credit decisions and report and helps you monitor them in a weekly and sometimes daily basis (esp as you rebuild, your report might get updated a lot). You also get CC offers and reviews which I find helpful. Once I identify what I like here I unto these boards to get more info. I used CK a lot during and after my BK to gauge my progress. 

I use Experian premier (19.99/mo) to get daily EXP Scores and monthly EX/TU/EQ Scores. I check them before I do any apps. 

[donkort]

Wallethub updates your Vantage 3 TransUnion score and your credit report at 6 AM every morning.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've seen CK consistently mentioned on these forums. It seems that people use CK to monitor their scores and make decisions based on output from CK.

My question is why not use MyFico instead since it is the official scoring model that the three big agencies use? I have MyFico Premier and I don't really see a purpose to using CK.

Unless of course, CK was considerably cheaper? I'm into MyFico Premier for $40 a month, but I consider it a worthwhile expense to help me make decisions on how to best rebuild my credit. Almost like paying myself for "credit repair" so to speak.

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The first part is true. CK is mentioned a lot. The second part is not. When someone mentions CK here they are usually immediately told not to make any decisions based on Credit Karma scores. Usually if someone even suggests it the thread is immediately flooded with responses explaining you are never to use CK scores for decision making. I often see threads where people do get any advice until they clarify where the scores they posted originated from. "Post your real FICO scores"

I could not find any threads where the poster was not told within the first few post not to use CK scores for decisions. 

Experian is often recommended because its the cheapest way to get all three of your FICO scores especially if you do the $1 trial

[Iusedtolurk]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've seen CK consistently mentioned on these forums. It seems that people use CK to monitor their scores and make decisions based on output from CK.

My question is why not use MyFico instead since it is the official scoring model that the three big agencies use? I have MyFico Premier and I don't really see a purpose to using CK.

Unless of course, CK was considerably cheaper? I'm into MyFico Premier for $40 a month, but I consider it a worthwhile expense to help me make decisions on how to best rebuild my credit. Almost like paying myself for "credit repair" so to speak.

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When I first started paying attention to my credit exactly 2 years ago I started with CK. During that time it has given me great insights into the workings of my credit.  If my score goes up or down it tells me exactly why when I click on, "What Changed".

For example if my score goes up 8 points it might show:

We found 3 changes to your report

Account A (it will show account name) balance was reduced by 58 dollars.

Account B balance was reduced by 135 dollars

One Inquiry dropped off

Some services just show the point change with no reason.

I know when looking at my vantage scores they are always a few points higher (maybe 15-20+points) than my Fico scores, so I can pretty much guage them before I check my Fico scores. YMMV

Also CK keeps a great history of old reports (I had to go back a few years to find out the Date of First Deliquency for a dispute I was making and Boom the only place I could find a report that old was in Credit Karma.

Plus its FREE and updates every 7 days. It's got a number of pretty good benefits for a FREE service.

[donkort]

Vantage scores and FICO scores are like apples and oranges. In fact, the credit bureaus were the ones who created them.  

Vantage scores are not "fake," or of lower quality than FICO scores.  But they are mostly irrelevant in the present credit-seeking climate.

FICO scores are used preeminently in credit decisions--so they give us a better gauge of where we stand as far as the ability to be approved for credit is concerned.

Someone with 700 Vantage scores, yet 600 FICO scores, will, preeminently, be approved or disapproved for credit products based upon their 600 FICO scores, rather than their 700 Vantage scores.

[Iusedtolurk]

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@donkort wrote:

Vantage scores and FICO scores are like apples and oranges. In fact, the credit bureaus were the ones who created them.  

Vantage scores are not "fake," or of lower quality than FICO scores.  But they are mostly irrelevant in the present credit-seeking climate.

FICO scores are used preeminently in credit decisions--so they give us a better gauge of where we stand as far as the ability to be approved for credit is concerned.

Someone with 700 Vantage scores, yet 600 FICO scores, will, preeminently, be approved or disapproved for credit products based upon their 600 FICO scores, rather than their 700 Vantage scores.

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Agree I don't use the V3 scores as a benchmark for apping a new account just Fico because I know that's what the majority of creditors will use. 

Unless..... I am considering another Synchrony account due to the fact I believe they have totally converted all their credit cards to the new Vantage 4 model. (I only have 1 Synchrony account).

With that 1 account I can see what my Vantage 4 score is (right now that seems to be the only way to see your V4 score as I have found no other sites online that shows what it is).

[donkort]

PayPal credit gives Vantage 4 scores once a month.