Diff bew/ TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian

[Anonymous]

Help. ... So far, I only have a credit report from Equifax. Are scores from the other 2 credit company, TransUnion and Experian, much different?

Thanks.  

[GFer]

It depends on which of your accounts and such report to whom. For instance, some companies only report to TU. Some report to EX and TU. The companies we deal with have to pay to report. And each company may prefer one CRA over another.

Therefore, most of the time; they ARE different.

[SCF]

FWIW, I have identical reports across all three bureaus and my scores still vary somewhat...  dunno about these CRAs.

Also, if there's a mistake, there's a good chance it will only show up on one or two reports and surprise you at the worst possible time, when you're applying for credit, so it's a good idea to periodically check all of your reports with a fine-toothed comb.

Message Edited by SCF on 01-11-2009 08:28 PM

[MattH]

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@SCF wrote:

FWIW, I have identical reports across all three bureaus and my scores still vary somewhat...  dunno about these CRAs.

Also, if there's a mistake, there's a good chance it will only show up on one or two reports and surprise you at the worst possible time, when you're applying for credit, so it's a good idea to periodically check all of your reports with a fine-toothed comb.

Message Edited by SCF on 01-11-2009 08:28 PM

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From various discussions here and whitepapers on the Fair Isaac site, I gather they normalize the scores so that the mean, median, and percentile distributions are very similar among the CRAs but they weight things a little differently.  From studying my own reports over the years as balances fluctuate I believe EX gives greater emphasis on percentage of credit cards limits being utilized, TU gives greater emphasis on total dollar amount owed, and EQ gives greater emphasis on number of cards reporting balances.

Think of it like three instructors teaching sections of a course at a college: none of them will grade the same papers exactly identically but by grading on a curve they can get their averages the same.