What is the point of this score if no financial institution uses it? It's kind of decptive in a way because before I found this forum and read about it, I thought it was an actual FICO score. And places like CK, as helpful as they are with many things, especially for a free service, really don't go out of their was to tell you that those scores they give you are basically worthless. I mean you can't even guess what your real FICO score is by looking at the BVantage score, the Vantage scores are SO MUCH higher than the actual FICO scores.
So what is the point of even offering people these scores? I'm guessing that most people think these are their actual credit scores. I sure thought they were before I came here.
@MileHigh96 wrote:What is the point of this score if no financial institution uses it? It's kind of decptive in a way because before I found this forum and read about it, I thought it was an actual FICO score. And places like CK, as helpful as they are with many things, especially for a free service, really don't go out of their was to tell you that those scores they give you are basically worthless. I mean you can't even guess what your real FICO score is by looking at the BVantage score, the Vantage scores are SO MUCH higher than the actual FICO scores.
So what is the point of even offering people these scores? I'm guessing that most people think these are their actual credit scores. I sure thought they were before I came here.
They are an actual credit score...Just not a helpful one. But I fully believe most people have no clue the difference between CK's VantageScore 3.0, VantageScore4.0 (which Synchrony actually uses for account management), and the 28 variations of FICO. I was talking to a mortgage loan officer who quickly disclosed that he had no idea why CK scores were often so far off from the scores they actually pull. He also denied that I had the ability to access our mortgage scores without them pulling credit...
Needless to say, I did not choose him as a loan officer to work with.
My VS3 is around 650, and has been for the past year. My F8 scores have ranged from mid-600s to 763 when they were at their highest. Currently F8 is 721, F2 is 724, and VS3 still shows 651.
The VantageScores are offered because they are cheap. I am not sure how much FICO charges, but they certainly make money when lenders pull credit, and I am fairly certain that applies to soft pulls which are done when you view your credit scores through a CMS. I have no clue what the pricing delta is between VS and FICO but it is obviously enough for most places that offer free scores to choose VS.
@MileHigh96 wrote:What is the point of this score if no financial institution uses it? It's kind of decptive in a way because before I found this forum and read about it, I thought it was an actual FICO score. And places like CK, as helpful as they are with many things, especially for a free service, really don't go out of their was to tell you that those scores they give you are basically worthless. I mean you can't even guess what your real FICO score is by looking at the BVantage score, the Vantage scores are SO MUCH higher than the actual FICO scores.
So what is the point of even offering people these scores? I'm guessing that most people think these are their actual credit scores. I sure thought they were before I came here.
A few comments:
- I'm not sure I've ever noticed my Vantage scores being "so much higher" than my FICO scores; true they are almost always higher than my FICO 8s, but beyond that, my Vantage 3.0 are almost always lower than both my FICO 5/4/2 and FICO 9 scores.
- My thinking regarding why Vantage is offered is one of those, "If you build it, they will come" scenarios; I have absolutely no evidence to support this thought, just my gut, but unless and until there is a viable alternative to FICO, then Fair Issac has a monopoly on credit scores.
- I've heard rumors the rarely used Vantage 4.0 scores are supposedly more useful, but even then, barely more useful (and totally unavailable to us mere mortals).
@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished, yeah, the whole bankruptcy thing is a challenge, my wife filed for a Chapter 7 back in 2014 to deal with an SBA loan when her small business failed, and I filed for a Chapter 13 a year later to deal with the significant debt my (now former) business partner ran up in my name (he had 3 credit cards and two business LOCs in my name which I knew nothing about).
Early next year my Chapter 13 falls off, hoping to buy a new house sometime in 2022 or 2023.
Vantage is a lot tougher in some areas of credit than FICO. And vice versa. Just think if Vantage was the only score for the majority. 
@FireMedic1 wrote:Vantage is a lot tougher in some areas of credit than FICO. And vice versa. Just think if Vantage was the only score for the majority.
Thanks for posting these graphics. I've never seen the Vantage Score breakdown.
I've also never seen my Vantage scores higher than my FICO8 scores. Mine are always distinctly lower....and since more weight is given to credit age with V3.0, I would imagine that's the reason for me....
Current: Vantage 3.0 (via CK)
EQ - 775
TU - 775
Current: FICO8
EQ - 809
TU - 807
On Deck: No Plans Currently
@CH-7-Mission-Accomplished wrote:
@Taurus22 wrote:I've also never seen my Vantage scores higher than my FICO8 scores. Mine are always distinctly lower....and since more weight is given to credit age with V3.0, I would imagine that's the reason for me....
Current: Vantage 3.0 (via CK)
EQ - 775
TU - 775
Current: FICO8
EQ - 809
TU - 807
Dumb question for the board. I have never seen an EX Vantage score. Does it exist? Can it be found anywhere?
*shrug* I'll let someone else give you a definitive answer. I've personally never seen mine. I think I remember someone saying Chase might provide an V3.0 EX score, but I don't have any Chase accounts to confirm.