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I'm curious as to why Myfico 8 is the shown fico score for members on myfico.com? I've read all of the info about the different scores and it seems it's not used for really anything, or am I missing something? I have different scores for potential Mortgage, different scores for auto loans, and different scores for credit card lending. So other than the myfico 8 seemingly looking better and making me feel better about my score, in reality it's just higher than all the rest but no one uses it. So what is the point?
There are 50 or so flavors of FICO taylored toward different credit markets, not count Fico 9 which is just coming online - that said FICO 8 is the most commonly used "current release" so while yes different lenders and models use different versions, FICO 8 is more or less the standard used today.
There are of course internal scoring models used by lenders and a few might even use Vantage Scoring, each offers a snap shot of your current risk factors. I think you'll find that if you follow the guidelines voiced on MyFico concerning utility, credit limits, age of accounts, et al that you'll do just fine no matter what the scoring model and that is the actual goal, at least in my eyes.
@snowwake8 wrote:I'm curious as to why Myfico 8 is the shown fico score for members on myfico.com? I've read all of the info about the different scores and it seems it's not used for really anything, or am I missing something? I have different scores for potential Mortgage, different scores for auto loans, and different scores for credit card lending. So other than the myfico 8 seemingly looking better and making me feel better about my score, in reality it's just higher than all the rest but no one uses it. So what is the point?
FICO 8 is the dominant pull in the market by a lot, virtually every credit card issuer, and every non-CU auto lender is pulling a FICO 8 or FICO 8 industry option. Most of the big boy CC lenders are on straight FICO 8, couple are on BC enhanced, most auto lenders are on AU enhanced industry option.
FICO switched to it ~2 years ago as it eclipsed the other pulls.
Thanks for the info. I'm just not understanding why it is considered the norm here where my free credit check from capital one uses vantage model 3.0 and so does credit karma. It just looks so much better with the fico 8 I worry it's not "really" that good elsewhere...if that makes sense.
@snowwake8 wrote:Thanks for the info. I'm just not understanding why it is considered the norm here where my free credit check from capital one uses vantage model 3.0 and so does credit karma. It just looks so much better with the fico 8 I worry it's not "really" that good elsewhere...if that makes sense.
Because they don't have to pay FICO anything to provide Vantage scores.
That's the only real reason, much cheaper, and the CRA's are pushing it (as they own that algorithm); Vantage is maybe 10% of the market but it's not really common among the big lenders for their UW; Chase UW my Freedom with a Vantage 3.0 score.
Sorry what does UW mean?
Total CL: $321.7k | UTL: 2% | AAoA: 7.0yrs | Baddies: 0 | Other: Lease, Loan, *No Mortgage, All Inq's from Jun '20 Car Shopping |
@snowwake8 wrote:I've read all of the info about the different scores and it seems it's not used for really anything, or am I missing something?
You're misunderstanding what you're reading. As pointed out above, FICO 8 is currently the most used FICO model. Did you hit the Understanding FICO Scoring Subforum and check out the stickies? From this one:
As of 2014, FICO Score 8 is the most commonly used.
However, FICO 8 is not the only FICO model used by creditors nor is FICO even used by all creditors.
@snowwake8 wrote:in reality it's just higher than all the rest but no one uses it. So what is the point?
What's the basis for this claim? The existence of various other FICO models does not mean that FICO 8 isn't used. If you want to determine which model is used most then you need to go out and see which creditors and products use which specific model. You can't determine that just by looking at a list of FICO models.
If you want to determine model usage look at existing threads and the Credit Pulls Database (Google to find) and resources like that.
@snowwake8 wrote:Thanks for the info. I'm just not understanding why it is considered the norm here where my free credit check from capital one uses vantage model 3.0 and so does credit karma. It just looks so much better with the fico 8 I worry it's not "really" that good elsewhere...if that makes sense.
Again, your interpretation of things is off. What Capital One and CK provide have nothing to do with what is the most commonly used scoring model by creditors/products. Cost is one reason why CO and CK provide VantageScore 3.0 (and why other sources provide other FAKO's as well) as mentioned above. There are certainly creditors that use VantageScore 3.0 for credit decisions but they are a tiny minority. You need to look at what creditors/products actually use to determine the most commonly used model. Which of your creditors use VantageScore 3.0? Who do you intend to apply with that uses VantageScore 3.0?
Don't just assume that you can rely on a single model for all creditors. Different models evaluate report data differently and can even have different scoring ranges so you cannot use a score generated by one model to determine a score generated by a different model.
If you want to know what a creditor will pull for you then you need to know the CRA and model used by that creditor/product and then go pull that score (if available) as only that CRA/model combo will be used in the decision. If that's a TU FICO 8 then pull your TU FICO 8. If it's an EQ VantageScore 3.0 then pull your EQ VantageScore 3.0. If it's an EX FICO 2 then pull your EX FICO 2.
@snowwake8 wrote:So other than the myfico 8 seemingly looking better and making me feel better about my score
You don't have just one score. You have multiple scores. Any score a creditor that you intend to apply with or use is going to be a relevant score. Again, different models evaluate report data differently and can have different scoring ranges so, yes, different models can generate different numbers even when using the same report as a data source. FICO 8 is just one way to represent your credit profile in a numeric form. How the number looks doesn't matter. It's all about relevance of a given scoring model to a given creditor/product.
Don't just fixate on a given number. Understand your reports and how the data in the report affect scoring. Good reports will lead to good scores.
@snowwake8 wrote:
Understanding Why MyFICO 8 is the Norm Around Here?
The sticky I linked alludes ot this but in a nutshell the why is that in testing creditors that have adopted it find it to be useful and think it is an accurate representation of the risk of default for one's credit profile. FICO 8 hasn't always been the most widely used model as it hasn't always been around. Should the majority adopt FICO 9 then FICO 9 will become the most commonly used model.
When it comes to model adoption, creditors and even industries can vary. That's why some creditors use an industry enchanced (bankcard, auto, etc) score or why mortgage lenders use one of the older FICO models. It's why some creditors use unusal models like FICO NextGen or don't use a FICO model. It's up to the creditor to determine what they are specifically looking for in a credit profile and which scoring model they think best represents potential risk of default using the information in the consumer's credit report.