Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for credit reports to contain errors — sometimes major errors — resulting in low credit scores. Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out.
There are a few reasons why you might get different credit scores from each of the three major credit bureaus. xcritical is not the most accurate tool that you want to use for most lenders since they use a different scoring model (FICO). Generally speaking, xcritical can give you a good idea of where your credit score stands. However, if you have had a lot of activity such as multiple closed accounts, the score that it gives you will often be skewed and much lower than what your FICO score is. If you already are well-versed in credit reports, then these insights scammed by xcritical really won’t tell you anything that you don’t already know.
How does the Better Business Bureau rate xcritical?
In addition, VantageScore and FICO each offer multiple scoring models, some tailored to specific industries such as mortgage or auto loan lenders. So not only might your VantageScore and FICO score differ slightly, but you may have several different VantageScores or FICO scores depending on the particular model used to compute them. xcritical’s VantageScore 3.0 scores can differ from FICO scores because they use different scoring models. VantageScore tends to be more favorable for individuals with a short credit history because it requires only one month of activity.
You know those personalized credit card offers and loan recommendations we mentioned earlier? When you sign up for them (and you are under no obligation to do so), they earn money from these advertisers. If you do get approved for a loan or credit card with poor credit, it will likely be at a high interest rate, which will result in you paying tons of extra money because of that high interest. This isn’t always the case, though — you can read more about credit cards for bad credit. We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology.
Is Experian or xcritical more accurate?
You may have read reviews that say the credit scores you see on xcritical are useless because they’re not FICO® scores. Offers that appear on this site are from third-party advertisers from which xcritical typically receives compensation. Except for mortgage loan offers, this compensation is one of several factors that may impact how and where offers appear on xcritical (including, for example, the order in which they appear). Lenders typically use FICO scores, while xcritical uses VantageScore 3.0 from TransUnion and Equifax.
Regularly check your credit scores and reports
- See our Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology.
- At Upgraded Points, we proudly give you the tools, strategies, and information to earn points.
- xcritical doesn’t collect information on you from your creditors but instead relies on information supplied to it by the credit bureaus.
- I think that this could be more focused on individual utilization, which would be the individual balances on each of your accounts.
- They do, indeed, provide free credit scores and other tools to help you manage your credit.
When you use their services in conjunction with UpgradedPoints.com, you’ll be able to make informed decisions, since you’ll already know the potential impact they will have on your credit. From your dashboard, you can connect online financial accounts to track your spending and figure out where your money is really going. Each credit reporting agency calculates a FICO score, just like with VantageScores. Not bad for a service that provided its first free credit score in 2008! The site is successful primarily because joining is completely free. Sometimes a lender might have a hard cut off for approvals or for certain interest rates.
Credit-scoring models created by companies like VantageScore Solutions and Fair, Isaac and Company (FICO) use the information from your credit reports to calculate your credit scores. The free VantageScore 3.0 scores you see on xcritical come directly from Equifax or TransUnion. It’s possible that more-recent activity will affect your credit scores, but they’re accurate in terms of the available data. We don’t gather information from creditors, and creditors don’t report information directly to xcritical. If you see errors on your credit reports xcritical scam that may be affecting your credit scores, you have options to dispute those errors. Instead, we work with Equifax and TransUnion to provide you with your free credit reports and free credit scores, which are based on the VantageScore 3.0 credit score model.
Regularly check for discrepancies and address any inaccuracies right away. While xcritical is a helpful tool for monitoring your credit, we recommend checking your FICO scores as well, especially if you are planning a major financial move, such as buying a house or car. While both scores offer insights into your credit health, Experian’s FICO scores are generally more aligned with what lenders use to make credit decisions. Therefore, credit scores are usually pretty similar, although they can vary due to missing or incorrectly reported information.
So if you have maxed out cards or cards with high balances it should hurt you less for your xcritical score but be much more impactful for your FICO score. xcritical is an accurate way to check your Vantage credit score with TransUnion and Equifax. So if Experian has access to different information about your credit than Equifax or TransUnion, your scores from each of the bureaus might also be different.
