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What's my actual credit score?

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Anonymous
Not applicable

What's my actual credit score?

I get credit scores provided to me by Barclays, American Express, Discover, and Credit Karma. Every one of them is different. Is there one more accurate than the others?

 

Barclays has me at 762. American Express has me at 730. Discover has me at 755. Credit Karma has me at 739 from TU and 747 from EX.

 

I know there are FAKO scores but and I'm assuming Credit Karma isn't the most reliable, but do any of the scores provided by my credit card companies truly represent my real score?

Message 1 of 7
6 REPLIES 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What's my actual credit score?

I know that Discover is a true FICO score. 

Message 2 of 7
Scupra
Super Contributor

Re: What's my actual credit score?

To decide what the most accurate score is you need to know which score the lender is going to pull. There is so many different FICO scores that there isn't a "more accurate" one. If you get scores from myFICO you can view many different FICO models.

Filed BK7: 7/2012 (start score EQ 560 / TU 529) Discharge 10/2012
801 EQ FICO 06/2022
797 TU FICO 04/2022
793 EX FICO 04/2022
$30k NFCU Platinum | $30.7k NFCU cashRewards Sig | $15k NavChek | $7.1k Cap1 Quicksilver | $10k Amazon Store | $19k Cap1 VentureOne | $16k Barclay Aviator | $5k Chase Freedom | $5k Chase Sapphire Preferred | $9k Costco Visa | $20k AMEX BCE | AMEX Gold | NFCU Platinum #2 $19.3k | Apple $8.5k
Message 3 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What's my actual credit score?

Discover and Barclays are both Fico 8 based on TU data. The difference is because the reports were pulled on different dates. Amex is Fico 8 based on EX data. The difference is because it's a different CRA. CK is Vantage 3.0 - ignore those.

Message 4 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What's my actual credit score?


@Anonymous wrote:

Discover and Barclays are both Fico 8 based on TU data. The difference is because the reports were pulled on different dates. Amex is Fico 8 based on EX data. The difference is because it's a different CRA. CK is Vantage 3.0 - ignore those.


Great, thanks! Looks like I'm staying in good shape since Barclays is the most recent. Now just to get it higher...

Message 5 of 7
takeshi74
Senior Contributor

Re: What's my actual credit score?


@Anonymous wrote:

What's my actual credit score?


All scores are "actual".  You don't have just one score.  There are a number of different scoring models used by creditors in the decisions for credit products.  For most models you have a score with each of the 3 major CRA's.

 

You need to consider relevance.  If you want to know where you stand score-wise with a given product then you need to know the model & CRA used in the decision for that product.  You can use resources such as the Credit Pulls Database and existing threads here to determine that.  Then go pull that specific score.

 

Different models evaluate report data differently and can even have different scoring ranges so you can't use a score generated by one model to determine a score generated by a different model.

 


@Anonymous wrote:

I get credit scores provided to me by Barclays, American Express, Discover, and Credit Karma.


Barclays - TU FICO 8

AmEx - EX FICO 8

Discover - TU FICO 8

Credit Karma -  TU & EQ VantageScore 3.0's

 

As pointed out above, your scores from Barclaycard and Discover differ even though they're the same model/CRA because the data differed on the dates that the scores were generated.

 


@Anonymous wrote:

I know there are FAKO scores but and I'm assuming Credit Karma isn't the most reliable, but do any of the scores provided by my credit card companies truly represent my real score?


They're all real.  It's relevance that you need to consider.  There are creditors that use VantageScores though most use a FICO model.  There are those that don't use FICO or VantageScore.  Each model/CRA combo is only relevant to the creditor/product that uses it in its decision.  If, for example, a TU FICO 8 is used in the decision for a given pproduct then scores genereated with other models and with other CRA data will not be relevant in the decision.

 

 

If you're just monitoring you can use about any score out there but you need to look at the bigger trends versus changes from the generation of one score to another.  FICO 8 tends to be what people fixate on since it is currently the most commonly used model but, again, it is not used in the decision for all products.  Better yet, educate yourself and focus on the data in your reports.  Any model uses the data in a report to generate a score.  Good reports will lead to good scores.  You need to be able to identify and address issues with your credit profile anyway and that knowledge will help you to maintian your credit in the long run as well.  It's never just about score anyway.  A score of X can represent two different profiles.  One could be, for example, more stable than another depending on the specifics of the credit profiles.  Don't just fixate on the numbers.

 

 

This is a very common topic.  Don't overlook prior discussions as a resource.  Don't overlook the Understanding FICO Scoring subforum and its stickies as well.  They contain info about the various FICO models.  Even FICO doesn't have just one model and they don't all produce the same number with the same data.

Message 6 of 7
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: What's my actual credit score?


@takeshi74 wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

What's my actual credit score?


All scores are "actual".  You don't have just one score.  There are a number of different scoring models used by creditors in the decisions for credit products.  For most models you have a score with each of the 3 major CRA's.

 

You need to consider relevance.  If you want to know where you stand score-wise with a given product then you need to know the model & CRA used in the decision for that product.  You can use resources such as the Credit Pulls Database and existing threads here to determine that.  Then go pull that specific score.

 

Different models evaluate report data differently and can even have different scoring ranges so you can't use a score generated by one model to determine a score generated by a different model.

 

 

 

 

This is great information!  That being said, where can I obtain a list of credit reporting agencies that utilize a specific FICO scoring model?  As an example, I had an agency pull my credit and it stated they used FICO Classic v5.  I've called a couple of agencies to ask what FICO model they use and you won't believe how many didn't have a clue what I was talking about.  My EQ FICO v5 score is 525 while my EQ FICO 8 score is 636, and the new FICO 9 score is 673!

 

For a state license, I need to provide a credit report containing a credit score (FICO derived) obtained from a nationally recognized credit reporting agency, which includes a public records statement that records have been checked at local, state, and federal levels.

 

Does anyone know of an agency that utilizes the FICO 8 or 9 scoring model?  Thanks.

 

Message 7 of 7
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