@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:What is the BEACON score? Supposidely that is what is offered with the USAA service. Experian uses Plus one? And the other two agencies (don't know which one uses which) uses Vantage and Beacon.
I think. I may be wrong.
USAA's credit monitoring service does not use Beacon or any type of FICO score. They use the Experian score -- I believed it is called "Plus" for all three.
Whoa!
Thanks for the catch!
USAA pulls a Beacon score for almost all applications. When they started offering the three-bureau monitoring service, I sent a semi-crabby message to USAA, pointing out that it seemed a bit hypocritical to enthuse about the FAKO's on their monitoring service, while pulling a FICO EQ when it counts.
Never heard back from them.
Probably it would cost more if they had to produce FICOs? Given that they are one of the only daily pullers left, I'm counting my blessings and can live with any score they want to give.
On a related note, when I applied for the AmEx card a while back I asked them if they would tell me my FICO score and they said they couldn't. That disappoints me. I expected better of them. Is there something in their agreement with FICO that they cannot tell the consumer their score?
AmEx doesn't use FICO scores. They have their own in-house algorithm that they apply to our Experian reports.
So it's sorta helpful to know what the FICO's are of those who get in with AmEx (and those who don't, I suppose), if you think of credit scores as a general indicator of the underlying report. If someone has 720's on the their EQ and TU, and their EX report is pretty similar, and they got accepted by AmEx, they maybe that tells the rest of us something. But no one knows how AmEx's scoring formula differs from FICO's.
And now since we don't know our EX FICO's either, we're really in the dark. 
@haulingthescoreup wrote:AmEx doesn't use FICO scores. They have their own in-house algorithm that they apply to our Experian reports.
So it's sorta helpful to know what the FICO's are of those who get in with AmEx (and those who don't, I suppose), if you think of credit scores as a general indicator of the underlying report. If someone has 720's on the their EQ and TU, and their EX report is pretty similar, and they got accepted by AmEx, they maybe that tells the rest of us something. But no one knows how AmEx's scoring formula differs from FICO's.
And now since we don't know our EX FICO's either, we're really in the dark.
Sorry, I screwed up. I should have said USAA AmEx.
@Anonymous wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:AmEx doesn't use FICO scores. They have their own in-house algorithm that they apply to our Experian reports.
So it's sorta helpful to know what the FICO's are of those who get in with AmEx (and those who don't, I suppose), if you think of credit scores as a general indicator of the underlying report. If someone has 720's on the their EQ and TU, and their EX report is pretty similar, and they got accepted by AmEx, they maybe that tells the rest of us something. But no one knows how AmEx's scoring formula differs from FICO's.
And now since we don't know our EX FICO's either, we're really in the dark.
Sorry, I screwed up. I should have said USAA AmEx.
Oh, gotcha. USAA told me my score when they approved my HELOC, but more in a chiding way. Literally: "Your Beacon score is 651. That's not very good, you know." 
But that was several years ago. They wouldn't tell my son his score when he got an auto loan last year, so maybe it's something new.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:AmEx doesn't use FICO scores. They have their own in-house algorithm that they apply to our Experian reports.
So it's sorta helpful to know what the FICO's are of those who get in with AmEx (and those who don't, I suppose), if you think of credit scores as a general indicator of the underlying report. If someone has 720's on the their EQ and TU, and their EX report is pretty similar, and they got accepted by AmEx, they maybe that tells the rest of us something. But no one knows how AmEx's scoring formula differs from FICO's.
And now since we don't know our EX FICO's either, we're really in the dark.
Sorry, I screwed up. I should have said USAA AmEx.
Oh, gotcha. USAA told me my score when they approved my HELOC, but more in a chiding way. Literally: "Your Beacon score is 651. That's not very good, you know."
But that was several years ago. They wouldn't tell my son his score when he got an auto loan last year, so maybe it's something new.
I think for mortgage and mortgage related they have to tell you. They told me mine on my HELOC.
For a financial enterp[rise that always "does the right thing," I really think they should tell everybody. Can you ask around to see if there is something in their agreement with FICO or whomever that prohibits them from telling consumers?
USAA didn't tell me my score but they did tell me My score was considered excellent for my age 