It was off by 27 points...I like them because it shows utilization of my cards and it has this cool credit card simulator.
Oh and it's free. 
We call them FAKO's, because we like the pun.
But I don't agree that they're just as good as FICO's. The only reason consumers want to know their scores is to see how we look in lenders' eyes. If a cynical company wants to create a different scoring formula and sell the resulting scores to consumers, who don't understand that these scores are 99.9% unlikely to be used by a lender, then I call that score fake. Or semi-fraudulent.
Most lenders use FICO's or their own internally generated risk scores, as does American Express. I know that Kohl's uses the EX Vantage score, but I have yet to see convincing documentation of another major lender using one of the published non-FICO score systems. Oh, wait, that peer-to-peer lending group uses a tweaked Vantage score, I think, but even then, it's tweaked. It isn't the straight score we can get. I do believe that this info would be available if it was happening. The folks who created Vantage scores and PLUS scores are desperate to have them adopted.
As for scores like you get through TrueCredit, they are strictly consumer-info scores, not meant for lenders.
And obviously, scores are only part of it. Lenders look at your reports as a whole, and at any history that you might have with them.
FAKO's are a great way for their inventors to make a buck. I have yet to find any other advantage in them. They also don't track the movement of FICO's worth a d@mn, sometimes increasing when FICO's decrease and sometimes the opposite.
Again, if your purpose in learning your "credit score" is to try to understand how you look to creditors, then FICO scores are the only ones that will help you out. And no, I'm not paid to say this.
But I don't agree that they're just as good as FICO's. The only reason consumers want to know their scores is to see how we look in lenders' eyes. If a cynical company wants to create a different scoring formula and sell the resulting scores to consumers, who don't understand that these scores are 99.9% unlikely to be used by a lender, then I call that score fake. Or semi-fraudulent.
Most lenders use FICO's or their own internally generated risk scores, as does American Express. I know that Kohl's uses the EX Vantage score, but I have yet to see convincing documentation of another major lender using one of the published non-FICO score systems. Oh, wait, that peer-to-peer lending group uses a tweaked Vantage score, I think, but even then, it's tweaked. It isn't the straight score we can get. I do believe that this info would be available if it was happening. The folks who created Vantage scores and PLUS scores are desperate to have them adopted.
As for scores like you get through TrueCredit, they are strictly consumer-info scores, not meant for lenders.
And obviously, scores are only part of it. Lenders look at your reports as a whole, and at any history that you might have with them.
FAKO's are a great way for their inventors to make a buck. I have yet to find any other advantage in them. They also don't track the movement of FICO's worth a d@mn, sometimes increasing when FICO's decrease and sometimes the opposite.
Again, if your purpose in learning your "credit score" is to try to understand how you look to creditors, then FICO scores are the only ones that will help you out. And no, I'm not paid to say this.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
We call them FAKO's, because we like the pun.
But I don't agree that they're just as good as FICO's. The only reason consumers want to know their scores is to see how we look in lenders' eyes. If a cynical company wants to create a different scoring formula and sell the resulting scores to consumers, who don't understand that these scores are 99.9% unlikely to be used by a lender, then I call that score fake. Or semi-fraudulent.
Most lenders use FICO's or their own internally generated risk scores, as does American Express. I know that Kohl's uses the EX Vantage score, but I have yet to see convincing documentation of another major lender using one of the published non-FICO score systems. Oh, wait, that peer-to-peer lending group uses a tweaked Vantage score, I think, but even then, it's tweaked. It isn't the straight score we can get. I do believe that this info would be available if it was happening. The folks who created Vantage scores and PLUS scores are desperate to have them adopted.
As for scores like you get through TrueCredit, they are strictly consumer-info scores, not meant for lenders.
And obviously, scores are only part of it. Lenders look at your reports as a whole, and at any history that you might have with them.
FAKO's are a great way for their inventors to make a buck. I have yet to find any other advantage in them. They also don't track the movement of FICO's worth a d@mn, sometimes increasing when FICO's decrease and sometimes the opposite.
y if your purpose in learning your "credit score" is to try to understand how you look to creditors, then FICO scores are the only ones that will help you out. And no, I'm not paid to say this.
Thanks for responding. I just have been researching ALL the different "credit score" models that are out there. Yes I have learned FICO is the only one that really matters.
Do you know why Experian takes forever to update anything on someones credit report? My cc info hasn't changed in over 2 months, but it has updated ontime with other CRA.