FICO 8 score 114 points lower than CreditWise??

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone, apologies if this has been covered ad nauseum.

Background: I’ve been rebuilding for several years. In the past I’d never paid that close attention to my credit scores. Got a Cap One QS card about 7 months ago ($1500 CL) and then about 2 weeks ago was approved for a Discover IT card with a $10.5K CL. These are my only 2 CCs.

I was naturally checking my scores with CreditWise, as provided w/ my Cap One card. Now that I have the Disco IT card, I got my first FICO, which is a shocking *114 points lower* than CW.

I’ve learned thru reading the forum that CW reporting is basically bunk when it comes to scores...but ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POINTS difference?? Is this a normal discrepancy between the two?

And for my own understanding, the Discover reports shows “FICO 8” which is TU—is that correct?

Thanks for your help.

-chinto

[Anonymous]

(Edited for typos)

[Anonymous]

The score you get from CreditWise is a TU VS 3.0 score.  The score you get from your Discover card account is a TU FICO 8 score.  These are completely different scoring models.  People have reported ~100 points difference between the two in the past... some say their VS 3.0's are higher, while some say they are lower.  It's really an apples to oranges comparison.

If you'd like another free FICO 8 score, you can get your EX FICO 8 from creditscorecard.com.  That's also provided by Discover, but you don't have to be a Discover cardholder to get it. 

Definitely ignore any VS 3.0 scores and only focus on your FICO scores. 

[Anonymous]

Your experience comparing Vantage Score 3.0 and FICO 8 scores parallels my own.  When I had only two Capital One cards my VS 3.0 scores were more than 100 points greater than my FICO 8 scores.  As I started adding credit cards and installment loans my VS scores started decreasing - reverting to the mean as it were.  With my current credit lineup, my FICO scores are nearly 100 points greater than VS 3.0 scores.

I've noticed that V.S. scores are very sensitive to individual card utilization of 50% and above.  This month, for a short period, I had an account reporting 61 percent utilization and lost about 40 points on V.S. 3.0.  In comparison my FICO 8 scores barely budged.

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone, apologies if this has been covered ad nauseum.

Background: I’ve been rebuilding for several years. In the past I’d never paid that close attention to my credit scores. Got a Cap One QS card about 7 months ago ($1500 CL) and then about 2 weeks ago was approved for a Discover IT card with a $10.5K CL. These are my only 2 CCs.

I was naturally checking my scores with CreditWise, as provided w/ my Cap One card. Now that I have the Disco IT card, I got my first FICO, which is a shocking *114 points lower* than CW.

I’ve learned thru reading the forum that CW reporting is basically bunk when it comes to scores...but ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POINTS difference?? Is this a normal discrepancy between the two?

And for my own understanding, the Discover reports shows “FICO 8” which is TU—is that correct?

Thanks for your help.

-chinto

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[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hi everyone, apologies if this has been covered ad nauseum.

Background: I’ve been rebuilding for several years. In the past I’d never paid that close attention to my credit scores. Got a Cap One QS card about 7 months ago ($1500 CL) and then about 2 weeks ago was approved for a Discover IT card with a $10.5K CL. These are my only 2 CCs.

I was naturally checking my scores with CreditWise, as provided w/ my Cap One card. Now that I have the Disco IT card, I got my first FICO, which is a shocking *114 points lower* than CW.

I’ve learned thru reading the forum that CW reporting is basically bunk when it comes to scores...but ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEEN POINTS difference?? Is this a normal discrepancy between the two?

And for my own understanding, the Discover reports shows “FICO 8” which is TU—is that correct?

Thanks for your help.

-chinto

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Do you have any paid collections? Do you have any AU cards?

Fico 8 does not differentiate between paid and unpaid collections. If you have a paid collection over $100 that is still on your report it can drop score by 70 to 100 points. Fico 9 ignores all paid collections and I believe VS 3.0 may as well.

Vs 3.0 always includes AU accounts but, Fico 8 and Fico 9 may not. If your oldest account is an AU account and/or a high CL card with a low balance, potential exclusion of the account on Fico 8 could negatively impact score.

[Anonymous]

Thanks every for the detailed responses.

I think @Thomas_Thumb may have nailed it re: Fico 8 not differentiating betw paid/unpaid collections. I have 2 ancient but paid ones that were referenced in the report. Blarg.

Looks like my only option is to just wait it out until it drops off, which should be soon. I was coming out of a marriage where I was left to pay all the CCs myself, so the timing sounds right in the report.

The part I can’t understand is how I got the $10.5K CL with a reported Fico 8 of 614 (which is what shows when I check on the Discover app). My Experian is apparently reporting 669 (this is what shows on the Disco approval letter), and CW shows a whopping 729. The numbers are all over the place.

Thanks again, everyone!

[Thomas_Thumb]

I understand some CC companies may use data from one CRA for approval but report free scores based on data from a different CRA. For example, Discover card reports score based on TransUnion data but may approve based on Experian.

Some CRAs also offer or automatically implement early exclusions of derogatories. Specifically instead of remaining on file to the 7 year to the month/day, the derog is dropped off at the beginning of the calendar year.

[Anonymous]

So that throws more confusion into the mix—using a certain score for free reporting yet another for approvals.

This has been educational. Thanks for the info you provided.

-chinto