Monitor Credit Scores

[debtstopay]

I am looking to start monitoring my credit scores. And, I want to do it on a budget.

 

Which company has the best offer for all three scores? and or should I use the FICO scores? If so, which company should I use? I recently obtained a Discover cc and I was told that they would sent me a copy of my FICO score monthly. Is this the real FICO credit score?

 

Is there a good plan or pattern to utilize to monitor and improve my credit score weekly or monthly?

 

Thanks for answering all of my questions in advance. Any advice or recommendations would be helpful.

 

My current FICO score from Discover as of 11/18 is 642. I would like a 720 score by June or earlier.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Kat58]

Yes, the Discover is a real TU 08 FICO score. Congrats on the approval, btw. Do you have any other credit cards/accounts?

[drew4]

As others have said elsewhere, if it says FICO it's a real FICO score. If it doesn't say it, it's a faco score :-) Credit Karma is free and updates TU and Equifax weekly. You can't beat free, but the scores are fakos.

[debtstopay]

Thanks, what is a "real TU 08 FICO score".

It was an approval but they changed the conditions and gave me a very high interest rate but they offered me 10.99% for balance transfer for 6 months. I will take what I can get and use the best to my advantage.

[debtstopay]

thanks for the credit karma referral. I will check the website.

[drew4]

FICO08 is just one of the scoring models that FICO uses. It is mainly used by credit card issuers. There are other models like FICO04, which is also a real FICO but uses a different formula, which results in a different number. Fair Isaac has like 8 different models that they use to forecast risk, and all of them will give you a different score.

 

Discover uses FICO08 for its ARs, and so they give you that score for free. CapOne also gives you a FICO score, but they use the 04 model. So, in my case, according to Disco my TU FICO score is like 730, but according to CapOne my TU FICO score is 692.

 

Both of them are real FICOs, both pulled from the same report (about 8 days apart) but one is using the 04 model and the other is using the 08 model. Mortgage lenders use a different model, and there is now a FICO09, but I can't remember who uses it. My understanding is that currently not many issuers bother with 09, but that may change in time.