FICO 8 VERSUS Vantage 3.0

[scford]

As many others have said, I am grateful for this forum and all the information that is discussed and provided. It has been of great help to me recently as I work on building up my credit in the last couple of years. I have made great progress as a result of what I have learned here, as well as, working to reduce my balances on accounts which have been the only thing significantly affecting my score. But, I do have a question that has been bothering my for months and I will use just my TU scores since it is the most dramatic: Why do I have such a big difference in the scores for TU between FICO 8 and Vantage 3.0? 

When I reviewed each of these this weekend, my FICO 8 for TU is 728 as of Sunday and my Vantage 3.0 is only 634. It is almost a 100 point difference. When I look at different credit card accounts I see some are using FICO 8, others are using FICO 9 and some are using Vantage 3.0. Does individual credit utilization have a major affect on the difference. My over overall utilization at the moment is 20% being reported on FICO. It will go down even more in the next 60 days. However, I have some cards individually that were over 30% utilization and I made payments to those to bring them under 30% (some at 0%) and a couple of others that will be in a couple of weeks. Is this what is causing the impact difference? I am trying to understand so I can focus on getting it improved. I also have several cards at 0% since I paid them off. I have no late payments whatsoever, no collections, etc. Just the high balances. What I also don't know is how long it takes for the creditors to report these lower balances to the bureaus. 

[pizzadude]

I wouldn't spend a lot of time worrying about the differences between VS and FICO scores.  They're known to act in different ways and many times can't be correlated.

[sportsguy83]

In my experience Vantage is much more sensitive to utilization.  I just consolidated my debt and before I did so my Vantage scores were 50 points lower than my FICO 8's.  Now that my utilization is reporting under 30% they are pretty close (10-20 point difference). 

I honestly wouldn't spend much time worrying about it or even trying to understand it, they are very different models and most lenders will still pull FICO. 

As for when $0 balances will appear on your CR for most (there are exceptions!) it won't be until 5-10 days after the statements cut.  Some lenders are quicker than others.  For example, my Capital One cut on the 2nd and my TU is updated already with a $0 balance yet my US Bank Cash+ cut on the 28th and is not updated yet.

[FireMedic1]

Picture says a thousand words. And thats the beginning.

[NRB525]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

Picture says a thousand words. And thats the beginning.

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What is your source for the image on the left? That "Recent Credit" block of 30% on VS doesn't seem logical.

NerdWallet has this list of percentages for Vantage 3.0. While we are quick to dismiss VS3 I am getting intrigued ( annoyed ) as I also have differences in my VS3 vs FICO 8.

[FireMedic1]

@NRB525 Vantage 3 is still being used by many over Vantage 4. Thats why I placed that for the OP. Least it isnt 28 versions. Either way it isnt the main source @scford for apps.

[NRB525]

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@FireMedic1 wrote:

@NRB525 Vantage 3 is still being used by many over Vantage 4. Thats why I placed that for the OP. Least it isnt 28 versions. Either way it isnt the main source @scford for apps.

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NerdWallet says the graphic I shared is VS3, then there is another section below in the same article discussing VS4 and trended data, that VS4 is not yet widely used.
Question still open, what is the source of your VS graphic please?

[TheKid2]

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@NRB525 wrote:

Question still open, what is the source of your VS graphic please?

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I'm curious where that came from, as well. The graphic looks pretty, but you dig into it and it's very confusing. Colors don't align or really mean the same thing. Factors don't align well, and of course FICO has 10% "Misc factors". Honestly, the graphic leaves me with more questions than answers.

[FireMedic1]

I took the time to google the topic Vantage vs. FICO for the OP. That image came up. I posted it. It was V3. Then found V4. Heres CK's V3.

@NRB525 @TheKid2  I'll go out of my way to help posters if I dont know the answer. Search engines do wonders when you type MyFICO at the end. It brings up the threads from all years on here. Although I dont know when the next call will come in some days I'm posting. Im usually in and out of the FD during a shift. Sometimes I may start to answer a question and finish it hours later after a fire. Thats what I found yesterday.  I did notice there is no set in stone answer with Vantage 3/4. As @pizzadude stated basically. FICO is the score that matters and drives this forum. It was a quick responce trying to help the OP. Thats all.

[Mdowning30]

Vantage is definitely more sensitive to Utilization than FICO, when i went from 7% to 27% Vantage fell 20 points and my FICO only 5. Your FICO score are what matter more so you're still in good shape.