Truecredit vs myFICO

[olinb84]

Hi there! I am sure this has been asked before but I could not locate it, how often does myFICO update? The past year my score has increased over 100 points....but my score on myFICO has only increased by like 15 points? about 3 months ago my score on Truecredit dropped 50 points, I now got it back up higher then it was before it dropped.....myFICO sits about 50 points lower then what my TU score on Truecredit......and about 50 points lower then what my Equifax report shows on Truecredit......my question is....is the FICO score that I receive on this site extremely accurate like with in 5-10 points.....or is it like any other consumer monitoring service where it flexes.....I am working towards getting my score high enough for a USDA loan and I want to know where I sit before I have a bank take a look....any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MarineVietVet]

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@olinb84 wrote:

Hi there! I am sure this has been asked before but I could not locate it, how often does myFICO update? The past year my score has increased over 100 points....but my score on myFICO has only increased by like 15 points? about 3 months ago my score on Truecredit dropped 50 points, I now got it back up higher then it was before it dropped.....myFICO sits about 50 points lower then what my TU score on Truecredit......and about 50 points lower then what my Equifax report shows on Truecredit......my question is....is the FICO score that I receive on this site extremely accurate like with in 5-10 points.....or is it like any other consumer monitoring service where it flexes.....I am working towards getting my score high enough for a USDA loan and I want to know where I sit before I have a bank take a look....any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Hello and welcome to the often mysterious (and frustrating) world of "credit scores".

The short reply is that the scores from TrueCredit are not FICO scores. The scores you get from TC are called VantageScores and I have only seen two lenders mentioned here who actually use VS's in making lending decisions. Besides using a different scoring formula than FICO the VS scores range from 501-990 where as FICO scores range from 300-850. That is one reason why the score from TC is higher than the TU score you get here.

No one has been able to buy their own Experian FICO score since February of 2009. Creditors can pull Experian and also there is a CU (PSECU) in Pennsylvania that supplies that information to it's members only. You can only buy true FICO scores at a few places. One place is here at myFICO. 

At one time you could also purchase your Transunion score at transunioncs.com but that site seems to have stopped doing that. Wal Mart now offers a TU score to those who have their store card and the Discover version.

Equifax will still sell you a FICO score but you have to look very hard to find it. You can get to it here: www.equifax.com/web-myfico-products/

In other words there are very few places out there that sell a FICO score. You have to be very careful.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[olinb84]

So in a nutshell the score on this website (myFICO) is the number majority of banks are going to see?

[Booner72]

In a nutshell, the EQ score from this site is what the banks will see.  The exact score to the nose.  (not 5 or 10 points off)  The TU score you can buy at myfico is a 98 model and most lenders use the 04 model. So even if you did buy the TU here it probably wouldn't match the bank.  Not impossible, but improbable.

The "PC" answer around here though, is that "millions of lenders use the TU98 every year." 

[MarineVietVet]

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@Booner72 wrote:

In a nutshell, the EQ score from this site is what the banks will see.  The exact score to the nose.  (not 5 or 10 points off)  The TU score you can buy at myfico is a 98 model and most lenders use the 04 model. So even if you did buy the TU here it probably wouldn't match the bank.  Not impossible, but improbable.

The "PC" answer around here though, is that "millions of lenders use the TU98 every year." 

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It has nothing to do with being "PC" or not. You are welcome, as is everyone else. to give their personal opinons and also facts about scoring. The TU98 score sold here is an older model and this is frustrating to all of us who wish it weren't so but to not also add that millions of TU98 scores are pulled each year (which makes it a valid score IMO) is not giving the entire truth.

From a BK years ago to:
EX - 3/11 pulled by lender- 835, EQ - 2/11-816, TU - 2/11-782

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem".

[olinb84]

I just do not get how there is litterally a 50 point difference.....makes me sick......I need to be at 640 for a USDA loan......my triple scores on Truecredit are all 650-660 range.....on here its 605.....

[GregB]

Truecredit is using the Vantage Score system which has a range of 501-990 so assumption is that most Vantage Scores would be way higher than normal FICO of 300-850 range. In reality they are based upon different algorithyms so Vantage can be lower OR higher - 200 points off is not bizarre.

If you got your EQ FICO here that will almost certainly be the EQ FICO that would be used on a mortgage app. You should use the report info from Truecredit to make sure the data for all three CRAs is correct and it will help if the data is similar.

If your EQ FICO is 605 and all three CRAs are showing the same data then the combination of the Truecredit report and one "real" score is a good start.

[Booner72]

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@olinb84 wrote:

I just do not get how there is litterally a 50 point difference.....makes me sick......I need to be at 640 for a USDA loan......my triple scores on Truecredit are all 650-660 range.....on here its 605.....

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I know.  It makes me sick, too.  I was all hot and bothered thinking I was ready to go back in April.  The loan officer pretty much told me to get bent.  Little did I know then.  But the good news is you now know so you are 10 steps ahead of the game! 

[Anonymous]

I've felt your pain as well!  I saw scores on TrueCredit of 770 (having not used myFICO forums before) and wen't app crazy!  Was declined for three CCs and thought WTH!?  That's when I found these forums and learned about how their FAKO is totally skeweed.

I am using multiple monitoring services now -- here using Score Watch for EQ and one-offs for TU.  Also using a discounted Experian monitoring services (their PLUS score is much closer to FICO that TrueCredit's FAKO) and using the Costco-subsidized Identity Guard service.  Identity Guard is also much closer of a FAKO than TrueCredit, and it's only $7.99 with your Costco membership.

I am at the extreme side of perhaps over monitoring, but I'm going to keep it that way until I break 800!  Good luck!