When businesses check credit, do they accept major reporting agency score estimates, or order the true Fico score?
…so all credit scores are essentially FICO scores with minor twists. The differences arise because the three major credit agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) have their models tuned slightly differently and have slightly different raw data (data items in your credit file may arrive to the three agencies at different times, and some may never arrive to one or two agencies). As to the unnamed “businesses” you mentioned, they have options. Some contract with a credit bureau r directly with Fair Isaac, others (especially banks) build their own models that consider other variables (such as income, employment history, and residence history) in addition to credit scores.
