I can’t really get mad at Experian
February 27th, 2009 | by mbhunter |Experian still does credit scoring, but you aren’t allowed to see them anymore, and that’s got some people ticked off. Experian alleges that its hand was forced a little bit by “unreasonable” demands from Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) in contract talks, leading to its change in service.
I don’t see this as the beginning of a credit apocalypse. Sorry. This is nothing more than businesses (Fair Issac Corporation and Experian) doing what’s best for their business, and for the time being they can’t work together. It’s nothing more than that. It’s certainly nothing to write Congress about.
The credit reporting agencies certainly do good business. They provide a service to consumers and to banks: evaluating creditworthiness against a (mostly) fair set of rules such that banks and credit unions can use them as a key metric in their lending processes.
When credit reporting agencies began letting consumers peek at “their number” it created a clientele that not only wanted to know their number, but monitor it. Manage it. Rehabiliate it. Obsess over it. The number became more important for some people than the habits that resulted in their number being what it was: paying your bills on time, building up a history, and generally being, well, creditworthy.
Aside from outright mistakes in reporting, should anyone’s credit rating really be a surprise? Should they really be wondering why they’re paying 11% for a 30-year-fixed if they’ve missed a bunch of credit card payments and defaulted on their car loan? If they are, then they’re more than a little naive. Or if someone has never missed a payment or been late, should they be surpised that they have excellent credit? I don’t think so.
The bottom line is that there are still two companies that will tell you your FICO score (TransUnion and Equifax) so if you really need to know your number, then you can get two decent ones. Plus, you can go to AnnualCreditReport.com for your free credit file disclosure once a year. Your credit file is not a secret. You can see it, and you can report discrepancies on it. That hasn’t changed. If you are disapproved for a loan, and you really don’t have a clue why, then you can find out why.
Your credit doesn’t go down the tubes overnight, and it won’t come back overnight, either. Each company has its own special sauce that it mixes in to arrive at your number, but the broad trends are, and will be, based on how faithfully you repay your debts. Be concerned about that first and foremost.
(Thanks to Free Money Finance for including this post in the Carnival of Personal Finance!)
(One final note: Even though, you can’t get Experian scores through MyFICO.com anymore, you still can get your TransUnion and Equifax FICO Scores/Reports from MyFICO.com. Also, I’ve tracked down a 20% off coupon that works now: CPPSAVINGS.)
9 Responses to “I can’t really get mad at Experian”
By Nate @ Debt-free College on Feb 27, 2009 | Reply
I agree with you – it is so easy to waste time looking at numbers rather than doing the things that change them. It is true wit your example about credit scores, and I have experienced it myself with Google Analytics. It is so much more fun to check my stats than it is to write and promote my blog.
Thanks,
Nate
By Tostada-man on Feb 27, 2009 | Reply
I am finding really, really hard to see your point of view, and justifying the move by Experian as “nothing more than” a business practice.
Experian is one of the big 3 credit reporting agencies. That means that LENDERS use their services to grant credit. True, there are still 2 other companies, but what happens if the lender you are applying for ONLY uses EXPERIAN?
If you don’t know your EXPERIAN FICO score beforehand (or you go to EXPERIAN.COM and purchase one of their FAKO scores) and you’re denied, your credit gets a hit, because there is a credit inquiry in your history. FICO SCORES can vary between 60 to 100 points between credit agencies. Consumer’s access to information is very important. I don’t know my EXPERIAN FICO score just by looking at my EXPERIAN credit report. I need to know my EXPERIAN FICO score the same way my lender needs to see it.
Why are you supporting less access to customers?
By Roger on Feb 27, 2009 | Reply
Seems like a reasonable approach; hopefully, things will be worked out soon, but until then, there’s not much we can do.
By mbhunter on Feb 28, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for your comments!
Tostada-man: I support businesses doing what’s in their best interest. More regulations mean more inefficiency, and higher costs for all of us. Experian and FICO couldn’t play well together. It happens. The result is that we can’t see the number anymore. I’m not for or against it.
The unavailability of one of these numbers does not change your credit rating. Would you not try to get a loan if your Experian score was too low? What constitutes too low anyway? That’s up for the lender to decide. Knowing your number won’t change the outcome of a loan application. Your creditworthiness up to that point will.
By Praveen on Feb 28, 2009 | Reply
I don’t agree with you.
Without knowing THE number, how can you go about changing it?
By Finance Helper on Mar 14, 2009 | Reply
Hi,
I think we should not check the credit score frequently. We may check our credit report once or twice in a year from all the credit bureau but if we check our credit report now and then, it may even drop our credit score. So we should better pay all our bills regularly and keep all the records of the documents so that we have not face any problem.
By Laura on Mar 22, 2009 | Reply
I believe the scores should be available to the consumers just like they are for banks, etc. If we lived in a perfect world where there are no false entries on your report this may not be an issue but in my case one judgement turned into 8 different entries on my credit report as if this wasn’t bad enough all weren’t reported to all three bureaus but in order to dispute some I have to give them something they dont already have. one bureau has the 6 collections listed but not the judgement so in order to have these cleared off I have to give them a judgement that wasn’t reported to them initially. so yes we should be allowed to see the score or if we can’t see it the banks etc shouldn’t be able to see it.
By mortgage helper on May 27, 2009 | Reply
If you want to improve your credit score then the simple way is to make your mortgage payments or other monthly payments on time and keep the record of this. And also do not close your old accounts. this will help you to improve your credit report.
By Matt on Jan 23, 2010 | Reply
Who benefits? Do lower credit scores for the working class mean more money for banks? Yes. Do lower credit scores make it tough to get a good job? Yes. Do medical bills that are upaid due to insurance companies denying to pay them end up on your credit score? Yes…I have proof. MB hunter supports businesses doing what is in their best interest. There were businesses in the Southern United States in the 19th century doing what was in their best interest. Do you support that? More regulations do mean more inefficiency…like the emancipation proclamation; I’m sure that really cut down on the plantation’s output. Credit is a social mechanism designed in such a manner that exacerbates stratification along socio-economic lines. “People with bad credit shouldn’t be suprised”!? Shut up. Making your credit better without a good job is a futile enterprise. Getting a good job without good credit is even worse. Having bad credit makes things cost more. Who benefits?
“How miserable that man is that Governes a People where six parts of seaven at least are Poore Endebted Discontented and Armed.”-William Berkeley