I use three different programs to check my credit scores, why are all three scores different?

Question

Citi Credit Monitoring Services, True Credit, and one of my credit cards all three have different scores. It is not different scores from different credit bureaus. My Credit bureau scores are also different for all three programs I use.

Answer 1

Each credit bureau houses its own version of the basic FICO algorithm. On top of that, each bureau has access to slightly different sets of data and compiles it in a slightly different way.

Think of this - on any given day, the snapshot of your credit file will vary - based on usage and payments. This means that your Utilization (balance/limit) will fluctuate - and it is a key driver of your score - so your score will be different if you look at it on different days.

The credit bureaus have reports form all of your lenders - each cut on a date that is issuer-specific. So they will always have slightly different data - and hence slightly different scores.

Any lender will look at an average or throw out an outlier - so not to worry too much if one is out of whack.

Answer 2

The primary source of information that credit card companies as well as other lenders use to determine whether you qualify for credit is the credit report.

This report is generated by three different bureaus each with three different methods for determining the score. The three bureaus don't all have the exact same information on you and therefore the scores will differ. This makes it necessary to check all three on an annual basis to stay up to date on credit score.

With that being said the different scores you received from the different programs are a result of a few different factors. As before the amount of information that the different programs have about you will affect the score. The next determing factor the the scoring model that is used to calculate your credit score. Finally the date the calculation was made is another determining factor.

I would recommend getting your credit scores from the three bureaus as well. It never hurts to have the information straight from the source.

Answer 3

Credit scores are not static and change consistently based upon timely payments, age of accounts, new creditor inquiries, and new accounts. Your score could be 720 today and 695 tomorrow if you went out and started applying for car loans for example. Each score is an algorithm developed exclusively for each issuer of credit or the credit bureaus, which is why there are slight variations.

Answer 4

There are several types of credit reports that can be pulled, regular, auto enhanced and super enhanced. Add this to the fact that all three bureaus have different systems to come up with scores and it's no wonder you are getting several scores.

Answer 5

Hi!

Very simple: The two credit monitoring services may use either different credit reports *or* may use different metrics to determine the score.

The same goes for your credit card..it may use one (or more) credit reports and different scoring metrics as well to come up with a number.

Lenders do the very same thing..they use their own metrics and may use one or more credit reports to determine your interest rates and if they say "yes" or "no".

Answer 6

How else would they compete if all of them showed the same number?

Answer 7

Thanks to each and every one of you guys for the answers!