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Strange CK FAKO numbers

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MakingProgress
Senior Contributor

Strange CK FAKO numbers

I use CK and freecreditreport.com to track changes in all three of my CR.  I also follow the FAKO CK scores just to get a general idea of how things change.

 

I look at the CK scores on Sunday each week as it is supposed to update once a week.

 

On 10/22/17 my CK FAKOs were TU 682 and EQ 676

On 10/29 they were TU 610 (the only change was a decrease in CC bal from 80 to zero)  and EQ 677

 

Today 11/01/17 I went to check something on my reports and I see that my CK FAKOs have updated to TU 685 and EQ 700.  No changes to my credit reports.

 

Is there some reason my scores would have updated in less than the once every 7 days?   Any reason you can think of for the wide swing in the TU numbers?  Is CK simply being nuts?

 

Last legit FICO 8 score I have is from Discover Creditscorcard on 10/22 of 621.

 

 

 

 

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores


Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20
Message 1 of 10
9 REPLIES 9
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

My CK updates every 7 days for sure, but sometimes they update way more frequently.  A few weeks ago my CK updated fresh DAILY.

 

The only thing I can think of with that weird score drop is that there was a hiccup internally -- I haven't seen it myself but others HAVE reported similar weird temporary score drops.

 

Since it is a Vantage Score and not a FICO score, it isn't very useful.  You can see yourself that your TU FICO is lower than your VS FICO, and by enough that you can't really apply for cards you might get if your FICO was the same as your VS score.

Message 2 of 10
marty56
Super Contributor

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

The only use in FAKO scores is if they come with a copy of your CR at that time so you can see if anything has changed enough to pay for your FICO scores.

1/25/2021: FICO 850 EQ 848 TU 847 EX
Message 3 of 10
MakingProgress
Senior Contributor

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

I disagree that the only use of a FAKO is if it gets a free CR.   The FAKO may not tell me what my FICO is but it does show a trend over time.   If my FAKO is increasing then so should my FICO.   I get my FICO 8 free twice a month.  Once from the Discover Creditsocrecard and once from freecreditscore.com.

 

By watching my FAKO and my FICO I have seen that an upward or downward trend on one is usully reflected as an upward or downward trend on the other.   That said when something strange happens as it has in my OP that has usually not been reflected in my FICO scores.

 

So while a FAKO is a FICO it does have its uses. 

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores


Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20
Message 4 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers


@MakingProgress wrote:

 

By watching my FAKO and my FICO I have seen that an upward or downward trend on one is usully reflected as an upward or downward trend on the other.   That said when something strange happens as it has in my OP that has usually not been reflected in my FICO scores.

 

So while a FAKO is a FICO it does have its uses. 


FAKO trends are not what you think they are.

 

Here is my FAKO versus FICO trend lines.  Watch how they go in opposite directions often.

 

vantage-vs-fico8.png

 

If you look at the data, there are many points in time in just the past 6 months where my FAKO was too high and would lead to denials, or my FAKO was too low and make me avoid apping.

 

Do not use Vantage Score for any purpose, not even trending.  I had nearly a 700 FAKO back in March versus a 500s FICO. 

Message 5 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

Out of curiousity, why do people refer to these scores as "FAKO" rather than VS 3.0?  I mean I guess there are exceptions, but I'd say that 9 times out of 10 that someone says "FAKO" they are referring to a VS 3.0 score.

Message 6 of 10
MakingProgress
Senior Contributor

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers


@Anonymous wrote:

@MakingProgress wrote:

 

By watching my FAKO and my FICO I have seen that an upward or downward trend on one is usully reflected as an upward or downward trend on the other.   That said when something strange happens as it has in my OP that has usually not been reflected in my FICO scores.

 

So while a FAKO is a FICO it does have its uses. 


FAKO trends are not what you think they are.

 

Here is my FAKO versus FICO trend lines.  Watch how they go in opposite directions often.

  

If you look at the data, there are many points in time in just the past 6 months where my FAKO was too high and would lead to denials, or my FAKO was too low and make me avoid apping.

 

Do not use Vantage Score for any purpose, not even trending.  I had nearly a 700 FAKO back in March versus a 500s FICO. 

 


Not sure what is going on for you, but when I look at trends it works for me.  Maybe because I am gardening and the only changes to my profile are when baddies drop off, and another month of account ageing.   It will be interesting to see my FICO 8 score when I next get it on the 10 of the month.

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores


Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20
Message 7 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

My wife has three medical collections, I have no baddies, her fako scores are over 60 pts higher than mine.

According to fako, five year old collections are better for scoring than 11 new accounts in 6 months.
Message 8 of 10
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

A broken clock is right twice a day.

I have a pack of email alerts on the same day showing opposite score movements in significant swings.

FAKO is typically VS3 because that’s what is cheapest to acquire for websites hawking credit cards for a commission or banks too cheap to pay for FICO but there are a few non-VS scores out there just as useless as VS3.

Message 9 of 10
MakingProgress
Senior Contributor

Re: Strange CK FAKO numbers

I got a credit alert from experian this morning saying my score had changed.   So when I checkthe alert I see an increase of 54 points.

 

MY NEW FICO 8 IS 675!  This moved me from fair to good.  

 

I am turly Making Progreess.

 

So the movement in my FAKO scores is trending up and the movement in my FICO scores is moving up.

 

So in my case the FAKO scores are a good indicator of movement in my FICO scores.   

FICO 8 Starting Score

Current Scores


Garden Goal is All Reports Clean – Achieved 11/26/20
Message 10 of 10
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