Hi all,
I'm completely mind boggled. So I pay for three score reports through IdentityIQ, Experian and Equifax. Here's what's weird... Equifax is showing my Experian score significantly different than the other two I pay for and I am trying to figure out why there is such a large discrepancy with the Experian score. There's also a pretty big difference with Equifax scoring as well.
Equifax EConsumer as of 5/2/20:
EQ: 627 TU: 663 EX: 578
Experian as of 4/17/20:
EQ: 651 TU: 680 EX: 678
IdentityIQ as of 4/31/2020:
EQ: 663 TU: 668 EX: 694
CreditKarma as of 5/3/2020:
EQ: 663 TU: 668 EX: NR
I mean I can understand differences of a few points, especially with different refresh dates. But 116 is quite a bit.
The only scores that matter are the ones you're getting from the Experan site as those are your FICO scores.
Equifax Econsumer are scores based on the Equifax (proprietary) scoring model- which no lender uses.
IdentityIQ gives scores of the Vantage3 model, which very few, if any, lenders use to make credit decisions.
And Credit Karma also offers Vantage3.
The FICO model is the one the overwhelming majority of lenders use to make credit decisions.
That's why they're so different.
Just wanted to add -
You could save yourself some money by cancelling Equifax and IdentityIQ and just keep your Experian membership.
If you like the ability to pull comprehensive reports for all 3 bureaus, you can take advantage of the free, weekly 3 bureau report pulls available through annualcreditreport.com. Due to the pandemic, they are allowing weekly pulls for 1 year so consumers may monitor against fraud (no scores, just full reports).
Use Credit Karma to monitor changes to your reports - they have a great alert system - just don't concern yourself with the scores provided.
Experians identity protection is also good. So with those services you should be covered (and pay less $$).
Thank you all.
My "credit repair guy" had me do IdentityIQ cause he said it shows more information. Experian systme seems to be the best. Is my Fico any better or worth switching to?
$1 you can obtain your 3 bureau FICO 8 scores and reports at Experian.com or creditchecktotal.com. Cancel in 7 day or less to avoid the re-occurring monthly charge. Wash, Rinse, and Repeat as needed.
Free credit reports (disregard the VantageScore 3.0 score) at:
creditkarma.com for weekly TU and EQ
wallethub.com for daily TU
Free weekly reports only at https://www.annualcreditreport.com
@atxtyson wrote:Is my Fico any better or worth switching to?
myFICO is great if you want/need to know/monitor ALL of your FICO scores. You have a total of 28 different FICO scores - this includes FICO 8, FICO 9, FICO Mortgage (mortgage enhanced versions 5, 4, and 2), Auto (auto enhanced versions 5, 4, 2, 8, and 9 ) and Bankcard (bankcard enhanced versions 5, 4, 2, 8, 9, and EX Score 3)
myFICO is the only service that will provide all 28 FICO scores.
Experian will provide all of your Experian FICO scores except for FICO 9. So you get EX FICO 8, mortgage 2, auto 2 and 8, and bankcard 2, 3, and 8. The Experian service will only provide FICO 8 scores for Transunion and Equifax.
My opinion is that it's a good idea to at least order a one-time 3-bureau report from myFICO -- just so you can see all of your scores. Their updating/alert service leaves much to be desired - to be honest. Alerts are often delayed and you only get a FICO8 score update when an alertable event occurs -- it does not update the other scores with alerts. All 28 scores are only updated when a new report is pulled, per your subscription type (monthly or quarterly). It's also more costly -- which is understandable given all the scores it provides. If you order a one-time report, at least you'll see what you get and can decide from there whether or not a subscription is necessary.
@atxtyson wrote:Thank you all.
My "credit repair guy" had me do IdentityIQ cause he said it shows more information. Experian systme seems to be the best. Is my Fico any better or worth switching to?
hmmm.. I don't think I've ever actually used IdentityIQ so I don't know -- but, check out the reports from annualcreditreport.com -- they are very comprehensive - comparable to your hard-copy paper reports that are mailed direct from each bureau. If, once you view them, you think they are just as good or better than IdentityIQ, then you can use that instead - and, as stated previously, it's currently free to pull weekly for the year. If IdentityIQ offered FICO scores then that'd be great, but they don't so...
@atxtyson wrote:Experian systme seems to be the best. Is my Fico any better or worth switching to?
I prefer Experian to all others, tho I do use myFICO because I like knowing all of my scores. But Experian is by far the better overall service, in my opinion - just wish they gave all the 'extra' scores for TU & EQ as well (and daily updates for TU & EQ would be awesome too...).
@atxtyson wrote:Thank you all.
My "credit repair guy" had me do IdentityIQ cause he said it shows more information. Experian systme seems to be the best. Is my Fico any better or worth switching to?
Let your "credit repair guy" know they are not providing sound information. Or at least provide it in a review or feedback. Most of these services leave a lot to be desired, particularly if you pay for them. You'll get better information here but you'll have to do the work instead of them. And any paid service won't be as invested as you to repair your credit, even if you pay them. Mainly because they realize you may not know how it works. This is a great community with great information. You'll just need to research and read a lot to find the answers you need. And by all mean, keep asking questions.
As stated above, FICO scores is what you should focus on. An EQ or TU subscription is selling you something other than FICO scores. EX is worth it, at least for me. They update FICO scores daily which can be very helpful opposed to waiting on late alerts. There's a huge amount of threads started by people comparing one of these to a FICO score and as often stated, comparing apples to oranges.
Use the free sites to see the activity on your accounts which is important. But only rely on FICO scores where provided. And if you're apping, do your best to find out which FICO score and bureau(s) their using as there are 28 different scores that could be used by lenders. This is also a source of confusion for many. What we do know for sure is that the middle MTG score almost if not exclusively uses; FICO 5 (EQ), FICO 4 (TU) and FICO 2 (EX). So don't rely on FICO 8 scores (often provided), or any other to make MTG decisions.
Read a lot here. You'll probably end of knowing more than any company that requires a fee.
Good Luck!
The plethora of information available on this forum is unbelievable. After the first few days on this forum I already wanted to cancel my credit repair guy. I guess my resistance to doing so is it's all pretty over whelming on what I need to do. I was kinda thinking when I see something that needs to be done, I could just have him do it if he wasn't already. Then again, he may just be BSing me