How can your credit scores differ so quickly? Know the mechanism behind this tight-lipped topic that is generally asked by many individuals. Read to know the scoring model lenders use.
Before walking towards the central concern of this article, it is essential to understand, what is a credit score?
Representative Example: £12,000 over 66 months, 31.9% APR fixed. Monthly payment £358.22 Annual interest rate 28.01% fixed. Interest payable £11,642.52. Total repayable £23,642.52. Representative Example: £12,000 over 66 months, 31.9% APR fixed. Monthly payment £358.22 Annual interest rate 28.01% fixed. Interest payable £11,642.52. Total repayable £23,642.52. Representative Example: Loan Amount: £20950.00, Loan Term: 85 Months, Interest Rate: 23.00% PA Variable. Monthly Repayments: £537.44. Total Amount Repayable: £45,682.15. This example includes a Product Fee of £2,095.00 (10% of the loan amount) and a Lending Fee of £714.00 Representative Example: Loan Amount: £20950.00, Loan Term: 85 Months, Interest Rate: 23.00% PA Variable. Monthly Repayments: £537.44. Total Amount Repayable: £45,682.15. This example includes a Product Fee of £2,095.00 (10% of the loan amount) and a Lending Fee of £714.00 Representative Example: Borrowing £3000 over 36 months with a representative APR of 39.9% (variable),the amount payable would be £134.21 a month,with a total cost of credit of £1831.56 and a total amount payable of £4831.56. Representative Example: Borrowing £3000 over 36 months with a representative APR of 39.9% (variable),the amount payable would be £134.21 a month,with a total cost of credit of £1831.56 and a total amount payable of £4831.56.Maximise your options: Compare and apply for loans below with LoanTube
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Norwich Trust
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10 years
4.8/5
Representative APR
31.90%
Minimum Age
21 Years
4.8/5
Norwich Trust
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£4000 -
£20000
Loan Term
1 -
10 years
Representative APR
31.90%
Minimum Age
21 Years
Minimum Income
£2000 per month
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Evolution Money Loans
Loan Term
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4.5/5
Representative APR
28.96%
Minimum Age
18 years
4.5/5
Evolution Money Loans
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Loan Term
1 -
20 years
Representative APR
28.96%
Minimum Age
18 years
Minimum Income
Not mentioned
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1Plus1 Guarantor Loans
Loan Term
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5 years
4.4/5
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39.90%
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18 years
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£10000
Loan Term
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Representative APR
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Minimum Age
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CREDIT SCORE
A credit score is a numerical value based upon an individual’s credit profile. It represents the creditworthiness of an individual. A credit score is primarily based on a report sourced from a credit bureau. It is used by different lenders, financial institutions, and banks to evaluate the eligibility while lending funds to a borrower.
When you think of a credit score, you probably think of it as something consistent and not as something that differs depending on the person who is computing it. If you have ever retrieved your credit score from multiple sites in a single day, then you might have noticed that your credit scores are different in each one of them.
Many people wonder that wasn’t reading credit scores and ratings hard enough, that now they even have to understand different and variable credit scores from various sites. However, it is easy to know how they work.
This article will delve into the following sections to discuss why credit scores are different in different credit bureaus.
What is a Credit Reference Agency?
How many agencies are there in the UK?
Why do we have Credit Reference Agencies?
What are the scoring models and report data?
Which is your lender using?
Is Checking Your Credit Score Worth It?
“Your credit report and credit score are two of the most vital aspects of your financial health”
Erin Lowry
What is a Credit Reference Agency?
A Credit Reference Agency is a vital part of the commercial infrastructure of any emerging economy. A data collection agency captures erudition like your address, marital status, your salary and whether you have ever taken a loan from any creditor. Post that, it builds your credit information based on the reports collected. It presents a rapid groundwork for the lenders, which they use for evaluating the creditworthiness and financial management of the borrower to determine if they’re a good applicant for lending money. Credit Agency is also an important part for lenders as it permits them to evaluate credit risk more precisely to reduce lending processing time and expenses. This, in turn, promotes profitability and improved credit activity.
How Many Agencies Are There in the UK?
In the UK there are three principal credit reference agencies – TransUnion (formerly Callcredit), Equifax and Experian. They work with raising communities, banks, and other major retailers to encourage those businesses to make a fast and reliable decision about whether the person appealing for a loan is likely to pay them back or not.
Why Do We Have Credit Reference Agencies?
Credit reference agencies exist because it helps lenders to collate a basis on which they evaluate borrower’s creditworthiness.
Before credit agencies, banks and lenders had to find their ways through which they can filter unpreferable borrowers, which often even led them to make wrong decisions. As a result of several years of growth and investment, the UK is now deemed to have one of the most sophisticated and effective credit referencing regularities in the world. This ability enables lenders and banks to make the right evaluation while assessing borrower’s credit uncertainty and affordability. Here are a few tips to build a good credit score.
What Are the Scoring Models and Report Data?
Scoring Models: There are many credit-scoring models, and each of them can provide a different credit score. The three credit agencies use their own model and even release a new version of their credit-scoring model.
Report Data: Credit agencies collect data independently and don’t share it with others. Also, creditors and lenders might list data only to one and two of the credit reference agency. Hence, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports might seem different from each other depending on the information recorded in each report. Each credit agency calculates your credit score with the data and information collected by them.
For example, TransUnion estimates your credit score with the data in your TransUnion credit report. So, if you have a stock account that appears on your Equifax credit report, but not on your TransUnion credit report, then your Equifax credit score might be weaker.
Which Is Your Lender Using?
Lenders and creditors usually have a network with one or more of the credit bureaus. To understand the model your lender uses, you can ask your lender from which credit bureau it acquires credit scores. Some may tell you or some may not, but you typically can’t request that your lender use a particular credit bureau to retrieve your score, as they keep their links, and on that foundation, they retrieve your credit records.
Most lenders use the FICO score generated by FICO, the company previously known as Fair Isaac. You can buy your FICO score based on Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion credit reports from myFICO.com.
Is Checking Your Credit Score Worth It?
It is entirely your choice because even though the credit score you’re checking might seem different from what your lender might receive. It’s still beneficial for you to know your credit rating. It gives a general idea of where your credit score stand, that is, whether you have good credit scores or bad. Also, you get a chance to improve, if your credits are not appropriate for maintaining a healthy financial life.
The basic reason behind different credit scores that are generated by different bureaus is their credit formation models with the type of scoring pattern they use and the data they acquire. Hence, because of all such reasons and mechanics, you find different credit score when you view it on different sites of different agencies.
