For many years, Mr. Dave Ramsey, debt solutions guru, advocates a position that no consumer needs a credit score. He claims that you can purchase a house or anything else without a credit score. He basically tells his followers that a credit score is a bad thing. Since he doesn’t understand FICO® credit scores, he pushes a position that is financially illiterate.

Everyone has some source to track a credit score. It could be online, a bank or credit union or a credit card company. With over 70 different credit scores marketed to consumers, answering these five questions will help you if your credit score is worth tracking. For more information, you can also go to the podcast available on Spotify and also Youtube, The Drive to 850, Podcast 5: Why are Credit Scores so Different https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/eN2qivmPkxb

Mark was making every effort to raise his FICO scores in order to purchase a home. His Experian (Classic) FICO scores was at 702. He had gone in and opened an account with Experian Boost hoping to increase his credit scores. However, he was questioning that maybe it was hurting his scores.

Discover card advertises to check your FICO score and review their “Credit Scorecard” on the Discover Card website. They say it is for free – which is enticing for everyone. The ad says that FICO scores are used by over 90% of lenders. However, this is where Discover Card deceives consumers.

Major business news outlets such as CNN Business, CNBC, and Fox Business are reporting that for many, your FICO® credit scores your lenders use are going to drop 20 points under the new FICO score calculation. This reporting is simply not true.

“We are doing what?” was the surprised response from a vice-president of a major credit card company. She had just discovered that her employer was providing a "consumer" credit score to their clients, while using a different "lender’s" FICO® score to approve the same company's credit cards. This vice-president wasn't even in the know. These two scores are always different. This "consumer score" creates mass confusion for all consumers when lenders use an entirely different (FICO) credit score for their credit card approvals.

Credit Karma tells everyone to get their free Credit Karma "Vantage" credit scores. You think that is good. Actually, it is not. All mortgage lenders require Classic FICO® credit scores for their loan approvals, which also determine your interest rates and loan fees. Vantage Scores do not give the same precise scores mortgage lenders require from the Classic FICO Scores. That is where the problem with Credit Karma starts.