@RobertEG wrote:
Since they are not used by most creditors, I would concur that their worth, when it comes to using your credit score in an application process, is of little value.
For that reason alone, I would not use them.
However, I would not go so far as to say they are "officially worthless."
They show patterns, and alert you to problems, and their potential impact. They thus have value in monitoring the general impact of events on your score. But they are not useful in quatifying that impact when it comes to ultimate use of your credit score.
Many consumers rely on FAKO scores for tracking, often because they are included with many creditor monitoring plans.
As long as one knows that they must pull their FICO-generated score when involved in a credit process, I dont think the FAKO score monitoring is totall useless.
I would feel a lot differently about FAKO scores if that were true.
The reality is they do not show patterns.
When your FICO goes up, your FAKO can go down, stay the same or go up.
When your FICO goes down, your FAKO can go up, stay the same or go down.
When your FICO stays the same, your FAKO can go up, go down, or stay the same.
They are not dependable in alerting you to problems or their potential impact.
For the same reasons stated above - that is when your FAKO goes up, stays the same, or goes down - your FICO will or will not follow the same pattern. IME, there very very frequently movement on FAKO when there is no movement on FICO and vice versa.
Because FAKO's do not show patterns and do not alert you to problems, I find them useless. And I've spent a good amount of time and money looking for any useful patterns.
Because FAKO's alert you to non-issues and repeatedly offer consumers false hope in false high FAKO scores, or conversely false despair in low FAKO scores, I find them misleading. We repeatedly and frequently have posts on these forums from folks who think they're ready for a financial move when in fact they are not, and from folks who think they're hopelessly far away from a FICO score goal when they have in fact surpassed it.
In addition, the FAKO scores come complete with advice. Following FAKO advice can, and will, lower FICO scores.
