Credit Scores -- Buyer Beware!

[boinga]

I currently have subscriptions to Credit Keeper (a product independent of the 3 reporting agencies that provides reports/scores for all three agencies), to TransUnion's TrueCredit (subscription for daily update of TransUnion report and score), and to Equifax (ScoreWatch for their FICO score, updated whenever there is a change). All of these charge $10/month.

CreditKeeper provides all 3 reports once every 30 days, plus credit scores. However, you should be aware that the credit scores on CK are NOT the ones reported by the three agencies. They are CreditKeeper's own "CreditXpert Score" based upon reports from the three agencies. It is not the FICO score (Equifax) or the one that TransUnion or Experian will report.

As an example, as of today my updated scores are as follows:


First score is from agency directly, second is the CreditKeeper version "based on" the agencies report.

TransUnion.............699............590
Equifax (FICO).........632............593
Experian...............---............574



My advice: go directly to the source who is actually reporting your scores to banks, etc.! CreditKeeper's scores can be more than 100 points off. I was testing them all out for one month to compare, and I'll be keeping the TransUnion/TrueCredit or Equifax subscription, but I'm cancelling CreditKeeper as soon as I've saved the current reports (which are directly from the agencies, unlike the scores.) If you want the reports and don't care about the scores, CreditKeeper is a decent deal for updating all three monthly. But the scores are just bogus.

[kmb]

Very interesting, as I also have CreditKeeper. I can't believe there might be hope that my scores are higher than listed?

Have you found another service that provides you monthly access to your scores? I thought the $10/mo was a good deal, but if it's inaccurate information, then why bother.

Just curious to see if you've found a better alternative. Thanks for the info!

[chpxiii]

However, you should be aware that the credit scores on CK are NOT the ones reported by the three agencies.

Correct.

But the scores are just bogus.

Also correct.

When you apply for credit, the company to whom you are applying will use your FICO score. They may pull 1, 2, or all 3 credit bureaus, and they will use 1, 2, or all 3 FICO scores from each of the credit bureaus.

The ONLY place you will EVER get your TRUE FICO score is from MyFico.com. You can order all three reports from there along with your REAL FICO score for each report.

They do have credit watch, which I understand is Experian only. I just wish they had a credit watch for ALL THREE on a more frequent basis than quarterly. (If someone uses myfico.com to regularly monitor all three reports on a *monthly* basis, please let me know which product you purchased, I can't seem to find it.)

At anyrate, other credit report monitoring services, i.e. TrueCredit.com, CreditKeepers.com et. al. will certainly give you your report, but any "score" they have will NOT be THE FICO score you want. That will only come from MyFico.com.

[boinga]

At anyrate, other credit report monitoring services, i.e. TrueCredit.com, CreditKeepers.com et. al. will certainly give you your report, but any "score" they have will NOT be THE FICO score you want. That will only come from MyFico.com.

Not exactly correct. Each credit reporting bureau will give you their own score. All of them are computed by "FICO" (Fair Isaac Corporation) but using slightly different formulas for each of their clients. Many creditors will pull all three when you apply for a loan. MyFico provides the version that they compute for Experian.

When you use a credit monitoring agency (not one of the 3 bureaus) all bets are off. They don't necessarily provide scores generated by FICO. CreditKeeper takes the 3 reports and generates their own scores with their own formula.

I haven't found a single place where you can get all three "official" scores, generated by FICO for the 3 bureaus, all at once for a reasonable price. TransUnion has a subscription for unlimited updates of their report and score for $9.95/mo, and you can update it as often as every 24 hours. Other services that offer "unlimited access" mean access to the report on the web, not access to the most recent version of it. CreditKeeper will only update every 30 days.

I've decided I will just use Transunion for now, and then check the other two twice a year or so. If the information on the other two reports is the same (using my free annual reports) the scores should be similar.

[boinga]

p.s. fairly good info here on FICO:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fico_score