Is My understanding Correct Credit Report/FICO/FAKO

[Anonymous]

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about credit reports, FICO scores, FAKO scores…  I was hoping someone could verify my overall understanding of this.

Credit Reports are created by the CRA’s (Experian, Equifax, TansUnion) and contain details of all your accounts, bankruptcies/judgments/leans, and inquiries.

Fair Isaac Corporation (the owners of this site) is a company that creates a numerical score calculated by a proprietary secret function. They actually have multiple functions (FICO Scores) for different types of credit checks such as mortgages, credit cards, car loans, generic…   These are the scores lenders use to determine credit worthiness.

Since the CRA’s realize that people will pay a lot for a numerical score, but the CRA’s don’t want to pay FICO a licensing fee they all created their own scores that resemble the FICO scores (Vantage Score, Plus Score...).  We refer to these as FAKO Scores.  FAKO scores are more or less useless and can really only be used to get a general idea of where you are.

Can anyone confirm that my understanding is correct?  If I buy a FICO score from myfico.com which FICO score am I getting; Mortgage, generic, a consumer version…?

[Dubious]

The one sold here is a "classic" one (I don't really know what it's called, but a base score in any case). There is Bankcard enhanced, and auto enhanced. I have not heard anything about a specific mortgage score. AFAIK, mortgage lenders will pull the same "classic" one. 

The one thing I see missing from your post is models. Fair Isaac will work on, develop, etc their scoring models and produce a new scoring model every four years or so. 

For example, the three scores sold here are EX08, EQ04, and TU98. 

04 is the most widely used model. So, chances are, for a mortgage the EQ04 that you will pull from here will match your lender's pull perfectly.

TU04 is very widely used but it is not available for consumers unless through a lender pull. TU08 is available via the Walmart card. 

You are correct, FAKOs are pretty much worthless and no lender will use them (unless it's one they created). When you apply for a credit card, a lender will use the classic FICO, a bankcard enhanced one, or their own scoring model. 

[thom02099]

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@Dubious wrote:

The one sold here is a "classic" one (I don't really know what it's called, but a base score in any case). There is Bankcard enhanced, and auto enhanced. I have not heard anything about a specific mortgage score. AFAIK, mortgage lenders will pull the same "classic" one. 

The one thing I see missing from your post is models. Fair Isaac will work on, develop, etc their scoring models and produce a new scoring model every four years or so. 

For example, the three scores sold here are EX08, EQ04, and TU98. 

04 is the most widely used model. So, chances are, for a mortgage the EQ04 that you will pull from here will match your lender's pull perfectly.

TU04 is very widely used but it is not available for consumers unless through a lender pull. TU08 is available via the Walmart card. 

You are correct, FAKOs are pretty much worthless and no lender will use them (unless it's one they created). When you apply for a credit card, a lender will use the classic FICO, a bankcard enhanced one, or their own scoring model. 

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Equifax score is the Beacon 5.0 FACTA and the newer Beacon 9.0 FACTA.  Beacon 5.0 is the most common version, and the one that is available here. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Equifax-Beacon-5-0-Facta/td-p/1261635

[Anonymous]

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@thom02099 wrote:

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@Dubious wrote:

The one sold here is a "classic" one (I don't really know what it's called, but a base score in any case). There is Bankcard enhanced, and auto enhanced. I have not heard anything about a specific mortgage score. AFAIK, mortgage lenders will pull the same "classic" one. 

The one thing I see missing from your post is models. Fair Isaac will work on, develop, etc their scoring models and produce a new scoring model every four years or so. 

For example, the three scores sold here are EX08, EQ04, and TU98. 

04 is the most widely used model. So, chances are, for a mortgage the EQ04 that you will pull from here will match your lender's pull perfectly.

TU04 is very widely used but it is not available for consumers unless through a lender pull. TU08 is available via the Walmart card. 

You are correct, FAKOs are pretty much worthless and no lender will use them (unless it's one they created). When you apply for a credit card, a lender will use the classic FICO, a bankcard enhanced one, or their own scoring model. 

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Equifax score is the Beacon 5.0 FACTA and the newer Beacon 9.0 FACTA.  Beacon 5.0 is the most common version, and the one that is available here. 

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Equifax-Beacon-5-0-Facta/td-p/1261635

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EQ Beacon 5.0 is the same thing as FICO 04.