I have read other posts concerning this subject, but I'm still confused. Recently I applied for a home loan. I am a member of Equifax Creditwatch, so I knew that my score was a 668, but when my banker pulled my Beacon score it was a 618 (think I remember him stating that they use Beacon 5.0). Why the difference? My banker could not explain and of course you can not speak to anyone at Equifax, just the automated service. The difference in the two scores is costing me about 1.5% (need to be at 650 or better for better rate) in interest which really adds up on the monthly pay back on a loan this size.
Beacon 5.0 is your Equifax-based FICO score. Are you 100% sure the Equifax score you're getting through Creditwatch is a FICO score? It's probably not, which explains the difference. Remember, all the CRAs have their own models they use for credit scoring, which we often refer to as FAKOs, because they don't really mean anything since lenders don't use them.
Yea I been using myfico to monitor scores and I just applied for a home loan n it was all pretty accurate.
Looked again and all Equifax states is that my credit score is 668 and that their range is from 280 - 850. If this is not my FICO then what is it made up of? Where can I get my true FICO score plus watch my credit?
If it doesn't say it's a FICO score or state that it's an Equifax Beacon score, then it's not one. It's just a generic score that Equifax generates using their own in-house credit scoring model. It uses the same information on your Equifax credit reports, but the model is different, which is why the scores are off. As cg21 stated, the best place to get your true FICO scores is from myFICO itself. myFICO also offers several products to monitor your credit reports and your FICO scores. You can read our our reviews and compare their products here: myFICO Product Reviews.
