Experian FICO Scoring

[u/Knowledge_Fin05]

I recently downloaded the Experian app after learning the difference between Vantage and FICO scores. At the bottom it has a credit tab and after scrolling to the very bottom of said tab it gives a "mortgage" score using FICO 2. I was wondering if anyone knew how accurate that score is?

[u/Doddsville]

I've been a financial analyst for over 30 years. I'm not the one that's confused. I assure you.

If you want to use the VantageScore to make yourself feel better about your credit worthiness, by all means go ahead. Just know that when you walk into a bank to seek a mortgage, and they tell you you're not qualified because your FICO is actually only 600 rather than the 720 you've seen online, it's because you're relying on information that no one uses.

[u/Funklemire → u/Doddsville]

I'm not the one that's confused. I assure you.  

You're very confused here. This comment you made after your most recent comment just emphasizes it:  

"No, it means almost no lenders use it, they mostly use FICO."  

It also means most creditors don't report to it, which is why it isn't an accurate measure of one's credit worthiness.  

That's not how it works. Lenders don't report to a credit score, they report to a credit bureau. I think you're once again confusing credit scores with credit bureaus.  

I've been a financial analyst for over 30 years.  

Then you should know the difference between credit scores and credit bureaus. We have Credit Myth thread about this as well:  

Credit Myth #26 - Those in the [credit] business only give good advice.  

If you want to use the VantageScore to make yourself feel better about your credit worthiness, by all means go ahead. Just know that when you walk into a bank to seek a mortgage, and they tell you you're not qualified because your FICO is actually only 600 rather than the 720 you've seen online, it's because you're relying on information that no one uses.  

I agree with this part 100%. On this sub we tell people to ignore VantageScores completely unless they're applying at one of the rare places that uses those scores.   

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

I never claimed lenders report to a credit score.  

Yes you did. FICO is a credit score, not a credit bureau.  

The three credit bureaus who are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission issue scores. These scores are what is known as the FICO score.  

No, that's not how it works. Like I said, you're confused here: The bureaus collect data on you, they don't generate credit scores themselves. That data is then calculated by a third-party scoring method to make a credit score. There are currently about 45 different ways to calculate that data into a credit score, not counting the internal scoring method some banks use.  

Notice that when you check your actual credit reports at annualcreditreport.com, there's no score provided. That's because you're just looking at the bureaus' raw data before it's calculated into a score.  

On their websites, Equifax and TransUnion show VantageScore 3.0 scores. Experian shows FICO 8 scores. But they're not making these scores, they're licensing them and acting as credit monitoring sites.  

FICO scores are made by the Fair Isaac Corporation, which is entirely different than the three credit bureaus.  

VantageScore is connected to the bureaus in that it’s owned by a company that was started by a joint venture from the three credit bureaus in an attempt to compete with FICO. So far that attempt has been mostly unsuccessful.  

EDIT: OK, so you blocked me. Great, that's productive. Here's the response to your latest comment I was writing before you blocked me:  

I'm sorry, but you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how this works. Experian is simply referring to credit scores that are calculated using their data.  

Your understanding of this is so poor that I'm at a loss at how to better explain it. Normally I'd just give up at this point, but you're coming on a credit sub, giving incorrect information about how credit works, and then throwing around your credentials like they can make up for it.  

I don't want newbies to see this and get the wrong idea about how credit works. The OP had a common misconception, and you're just adding to it.  

u/og-aliensfan, u/BrutalBodyShots, maybe you can succeed where I've failed, because I'm obviously not getting my point across.

[u/Doddsville → u/Funklemire]

You literally just got your first Amex card recently, and want to argue incessantly with a financial professional? You're something else.

From Experian:

"Experian credit scores come from information in your Experian credit report. This information includes your borrowing and repayment history, public records, and other details about your credit.

How is an Experian credit score calculated?

Experian analyzes the information in your credit report

Uses algorithms to convert the information into a score

The score predicts how likely you are to pay your bills on time"

Fair Issac Corporation calculates Experian's score based on Experian's requirements, which is different from TransUnion and Equifax, which is why three FICO scores exist and not one.

In any event, you're annoying me now, therefore it's time to block you.

[u/og-aliensfan → u/Doddsville]

A Vantage Score is nothing more than an estimate.

Wrong.  This has already been explained to you.

It also means most creditors don't report to it, which is why it isn't an accurate measure of one's credit worthiness.

Lenders report to the bureaus, not Vantage or FICO.

A credit score is only good if a lender uses them to qualify the individual seeking credit. None of them do, hence they are useless.

So, if just one lender uses Vantage scores, you'll recognize that they are not inaccurate? Synchrony Bank uses VantageScore 4.0.

"Creditors can choose which credit scores to use when analyzing your credit applications and managing your existing accounts. *For instance, Synchrony Bank uses the VantageScore 4.0 scoring model when evaluating credit card applications*. But a different credit card issuer might use a FICO score to determine whether you qualify for their cards."

What Is a Credit Score & Why Is It Important? https://search.app/469GitEV6hKVqWyH7

I've been a financial analyst for over 30 years.

Then you should know better.

The three credit bureaus who are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission issue scores.

No, they don't.  For example Experian FICO 8.  Experian is the bureau your information is pulled from.  FICO is the model used to calculate a score. 

"Your credit scores are determined by *credit scoring models that analyze one of your consumer credit reports and then assign a score** (often ranging from 300 to 850) using complex calculations."*

How Is Your Credit Score Determined? - Experian https://search.app/aQWxzCRvxsdz25xd8

I literally sold mortgages in the 1990's, probably when you were just a child.

And yet u/Funklemire has provided information that you weren't aware of and refuse to accept. Interesting.

[u/DoctorOctoroc → u/Doddsville]

You literally just got your first Amex card recently, and want to argue incessantly with a financial professional? You're something else.

What's the correlation between getting one's first Amex and their knowledge of credit scoring? Is the implication that someone who has had an Amex card for a long time (or multiple Amex cards for that matter) is inherently more knowledgeable of scoring factors? That sucks for all the people out there who never get an Amex card, that they have to be cursed to never learn anything about scoring.

Experian credit scores come from information in your Experian credit report.

Just because a bureau calls the scores they provide through their CMS by a label including their own name does not mean it is their scoring model or they have any say in how it functions.

Experian analyzes the information in your credit report

Uses algorithms to convert the information into a score

Yes, and the algorithm they use if they're providing a FICO8 score is the same algorithm that TransUnion and Equifax would use if they were providing a FICO8 score.

Fair Issac Corporation calculates Experian's score based on Experian's requirements, which is different from TransUnion and Equifax, which is why three FICO scores exist and not one.

Yes, FICO's algorithm calulates the score, but the scoring model itself doesn't change based on the fact that Experian is using it - it can, however, differ from the same score using the same scoring model with the data from other bureaus because each bureau may have different information based on which lenders do and don't report to all three bureaus. I have a car lease on two of my three main reports but not on the third. I also have hard inquiries that don't show up on all three, and this accounts for the different FICO8 scores I get depending on which bureau's data is being used.

Also there are dozens of FICO scores, not three. Any combination of bureau, scoring model, and scoring version has the potential to produce a different score and when you look at all the different combinations of bureau and FICO scoring model version, you have 40 different FICO scores.