Score Incongruencies

[lizmariposa]

So, my Equifax FICO 8 according to myFICO is 688 as of 02/07. My total credit card balances increased $25 this month, so I am using only 2% of my credit. I guess this went up from 1%. myFICO says this has not decreased my Equifax score. BUT, I added a seven day trial today with Experian, and they claim that my Equifax FICO 8 is 676. I really don't know what to think, but it's frustrating either way. Not being able to trust the accuracy of numbers claimed on the same model and model type, or being lowered 12 frigging points over $25 when NO ONE else has lowered my score. Also... some bureaus giving you a good healthy amount of points for progress, 5 or 6, and Experian being like "oh, hey,  here's 1 point for your efforts." Grrrr!! 

I really don't know what's up with the Experian and myFICO difference though. And it's bugging me as it ought to be the same. I'll have to wait till 02/10 when my credit reports officially drop on myFICO and we'll see if more credit score numbers change. 

[chiefone4u]

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@lizmariposa wrote:

So, my Equifax FICO 8 according to myFICO is 688 as of 02/07. My total credit card balances increased $25 this month, so I am using only 2% of my credit. I guess this went up from 1%. myFICO says this has not decreased my Equifax score. BUT, I added a seven day trial today with Experian, and they claim that my Equifax FICO 8 is 676. I really don't know what to think, but it's frustrating either way. Not being able to trust the accuracy of numbers claimed on the same model and model type, or being lowered 12 frigging points over $25 when NO ONE else has lowered my score. Also... some bureaus giving you a good healthy amount of points for progress, 5 or 6, and Experian being like "oh, hey,  here's 1 point for your efforts." Grrrr!! 

I really don't know what's up with the Experian and myFICO difference though. And it's bugging me as it ought to be the same. I'll have to wait till 02/10 when my credit reports officially drop on myFICO and we'll see if more credit score numbers change. 

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If both scores where generated at the same time, they would be the same... however hour's or day's between the score generated could allow changes to report thus providing two different scores for the same CRA.

[Anonymous]

One can easily have a 20 point score variance between scores from the same model but different bureaus, even with similar or identical data.  Don't take anything personal and it isn't the "bureau" not giving you points... it's all based on a scoring algorithm and the data fed into it.  You have no gripe with EX or any other bureau itself and there is nothing to not trust.  Understand that all scores are accurate.

As for why your score may be different, know that there are only 3 criteria that go into a Fico score.  The scoring model (Fico 8, etc), the bureau data (EX, etc) pulled, and the moment in time that these first 2 criteria are used together.  If you're saying that you're looking at an EX F8 score, those are your first 2 pieces of data... so if there's a variance between the two scores you're looking at it can only be the 3rd and final piece of criteria, the time that they were used to produce those scores. 

[lizmariposa]

Nah, I do take it personally. I take it personally that I only have 2% revolving credit usage, that ALL my debts keep going down month after month as I pay over a thousand dollars toward it each month, and that they lowered me 12 frigging points for going from 1% to 2% rate utilization. That seems outrageous and unfair to me  to punish someone for playing the game right -- which means their algorythmn is unfair and outrageous, overall, in my perspective. And yeah, it's the SAME bureau, Experiance general score 8. 

[thornback]

@Anonymous i believe OP received a 3B from Experian.com so is referencing their EQ FICO retrieved from the Experian service. 

@lizmariposa Your EQ FICO 8 of 688 from myFICO is dated Jan. 10th, as shown in your image.   That's nearly a month ago. When did you pull your EQ from Experian.com? - if today, then that  pull from Experian.com is your current, accurate Equifax FICO8 score.  Something, or multple things, changed on your reports during that time that affected your score.  The only way to find out what happened is to compare the reports from the 1/10 pull and the reports you recently obtained from Experian.com

Youre assuming it's due to slightly increased util but it's likely due to something else or a combination of things. You may need to take some time to review and analyze your credit reports line by line to find the change.

[lizmariposa]

I'm sorry for the confusion. The image you see is my old signature image, from a month ago -- it comes up with every reply. I should just delete it for now. It is NOT my current update to my score for myFICO, which came in today. Both updates for Equifax, (from the Experian.com site) and Equifax (under myFICO) came in today... One says 676, and the other 688. myFICO says my increase on my rate utilization did not change my score. Experian under their site offers not much insight at all. 

[thornback]

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@lizmariposa wrote:

I'm sorry for the confusion. The image you see is my old signature image, from a month ago -- it comes up with every reply. I should just delete it for now. It is NOT my current update to my score for myFICO, which came in today. Both updates for Experian (under their site) and Experian (under myFICO) came in today... One says 676, and the other 688. myFICO says my increase on my rate utilization did not change my score. Experian under their site offers not much insight at all. 

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Okay... 2 questions: 

(1) you said earlier that your reports won't be avail on myFICO til 2/10, correct?  So the update you received today was due to an alert about a change -- not due to a full 3-bureau update, right? 

(2) are we talking about your Experian score or your Equifax score? Because earlier you said they issue was your EQ score and now you're saying it's EX... (this may matter if the score in question is, in fact,  EQ and the update was received with an alert). 

EDIT:  Haha - I see you corrected your post and we are speaking about Equifax.  So was  the updated score received with a myfico alert (not a 3-bureau update)? 

[lizmariposa]

(1) you said earlier that your reports won't be avail on myFICO til 2/10, correct?  So the update you received today was due to an alert about a change -- not due to a full 3-bureau update, right? The 3B won't come down till 2/10. The update I got was an alert for Equifax, through myFICO that my utilization rate had increased 2%, with a balance of $24. 

(2) are we talking about your Experian score or your Equifax score? Because earlier you said they issue was your EQ score and now you're saying it's EX... (this may matter if the score in question is, in fact,  EQ and the update was received with an alert). I was not doing the best explaining and had to go back and edit my replies. But I was speaking about looking at my Equifax score through Experian.com. Which also updated today. 

myFICO says no change to my Equifax. Experian.com says 676 on my Equifax. 

I have been monitoring my credit religiously, and every action I've made every month. I don't see how 2% credit utilization merits lowering my score by so much. I have a 28K student loan and I pay $150 on it every month. I have a collection on which I pay $500 every month -- which originally was $2323, and is now $623. That's it. And the reporing on Experian.com (for Equifax) doesn't shed much light at all. There's nothing off or weird. 

[thornback]

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@lizmariposa wrote:

(1) you said earlier that your reports won't be avail on myFICO til 2/10, correct?  So the update you received today was due to an alert about a change -- not due to a full 3-bureau update, right? The 3B won't come down till 2/10. The update I got was an alert for Equifax, through myFICO that my utilization rate had increased 2%, with a balance of $24. 

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^^ This is why you see a score discrepancy. And it's not the fault of Equifax, it is a myFICO monitoring issue that has been affecting some users for over a year now.  The Equifax FICO 8 scores are not updating with alerts as they should. EQ 8 will only update when a new 3B report is pulled, per your subscription. EX and TU update with alerts as they should. 

There are multple threads in the myFICO product feedback subforum on it... it has not been resolved.  

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/forums/searchpage/tab/message?q=Equifax%20not%20updating%20on%20myf...

When you pull your 3B on 2/10, your EQ will update and that score, assuming no other report changes occur, should track with what you pulled from Experian.com. 

[lizmariposa]

Ohhh... that makes more sense. Thank you for letting me know that. It still hurts my heart that they would lower me so  much over a less than 5% increase of credit utilization. Like I'm never supposed to use my available credit, ever? Maybe I'm being melowdramatic, but I just find it unfair. The other two bureaus did not penalize me, and in fact, Experian raised my credit by 2 pts. When one works hard at these things, saying 'don't take it personal' is not very realistic. lol