Why do I have different credit scores from TrueCredit and Experian?

Posted by Caitlin on October 14th, 2009

The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.

Q: I have a 3 score report from True Credit and one from Experian. They have totally different scores. Why would this be? I am trying to get Identity Guard but have not had success with that.

A: Your credit score is calculated based on the information in your credit report, and you have three different credit reports, one from each of the three major credit bureaus. Since some businesses choose to report to only one or two of the three bureaus, it is likely that each of your three credit reports contains slightly different data, which would result in different scores. The credit bureaus use different formulas to calculate their scores, which is another reason for variation. Your credit score also changes as new data is added to your credit report, so if you request credit reports and scores from different bureaus at different times, that would account for further variation.

The varying scores provided by the credit bureaus can help you gain an understanding of your credit health. But the vast majority of lenders rely on the FICO scoring system, created by the Fair Isaac Corporation. You have three FICO scores, one based on each of your three different credit reports.

You can purchase your TransUnion and Equifax FICO scores directly from MyFICO. MyFICO also offers a service that monitors your Equifax credit report and Equifax FICO score and alerts you to any changes. Equifax offers a similar service that provides your Equifax FICO score, but monitors all three credit reports. Identity Guard monitors all three credit reports and provides all three credit scores as calculated by the CreditXpert scoring system, which is similar but not identical to the FICO scoring system. It is not possible for consumers to access Experian FICO scores at this time.

If you are particularly interested in your FICO score, the best option would be to obtain all three credit reports and your FICO score from Equifax. Assuming that the data is consistent across all three reports, it would be fairly safe to assume that your Experian and TransUnion FICO scores will also be quite consistent with your Equifax FICO score.

However, it is important to bear in mind that the information on your credit report matters more than any individual credit score. You can't necessarily anticipate how a particular lender will choose to calculate your score, but you can ensure that the data on all three of your credit reports is positive and accurate.

To learn more about credit reports and scores, see our reviews and comparison chart.