What is a BEACON, EMPIRICA or Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Score?
BEACON is Equifax’s commercial name for the FICO score. FICO scores are calculated by the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – using formulas developed by Fair Isaac. The FICO scores are known as BEACON® at Equifax, EMPIRICA® at TransUnion and the Experian/Fair Isaac Risk Score at Experian. Will ordering my credit report cause it to drop? No. Ordering your own credit score and credit report through will not change your score. Will my score actually change over time? Yes, it’s normal for scores to change. Your FICO score today is likely different from your FICO score of a few weeks ago. Your score changes when the underlying information on your credit report changes. Since this can happen anytime, lenders usually make decisions based on your most current FICO score and not on yesterday’s score. Is my score more likely to go up or down? That depends on a lot of things under your control. For example, if you manage your credit carefully by paying your
