In other (more lengthy) words, your credit score will not be “calculated” in the same way contingent on which credit reporting agency you request it from.  With so much emphasis on a consumer’s credit score in today’s tumultuous economy, when you request your credit score, you want to see the same score that a potential creditor will see; don’t you?

If your answer is yes, then you’ll want to make sure that you will be getting your FICO score. The FICO, or Fair Isaac Corporation score is the score that 90% of the lenders out there use, and is considered the industry standard. While most of us are all too familiar with the TV  jingles and the flashing internet pop-up ads marketing site after site that offers “free credit reports” and credit scores, the majority of these companies provide credit scores that are NOT FICO scores. For example:

• Experian: One of the big three CRA’s, if you order a credit score through them (or any of their other consumer sites) you will get a score called the “PLUS” score; NOT a FICO score.
• TransUnion: You will get a score called the “TransRisk” score if you order from them (they market under the name “Truecredit”). TransUnion  will sell the a FICO credit score to consumers, but “sneakily” it’s only marketed at their TransUnion “Consumer Services” website at transunioncs.com.
• Equifax: Equifax markets their score as “Score Power”, and it is in fact a FICO score. However, you will only be able to access this single (Equifax) FICO score; if you want the other two, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

While these scores are pretty much worthless in the lending environment, they are a constant source of revenue for the bureaus at the consumer level. The easiest way to ensure you will get your FICO credit score(s) – all three-  is directly through Fair Isaac’s consumer website at myFICO.com. If you are ordering a credit score through some other agency, be sure to read the fine print; if it’s a FICO score, it should say so.

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