Equifax Credit Scores may be used by credit providers, such as banks and other lenders to help them decide whether to lend you money and in some cases can even impact on how much they will lend you, the terms and rate that they offer you.
Credit card issuers and lenders may use one or more of the three major credit bureaus—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax—to help determine your eligibility for new credit card accounts, loans and more. Understanding which bureau your issuer uses can be beneficial for when you're applying for cards and loans.
While the FICO® 8 model is the most widely used scoring model for general lending decisions, banks use the following FICO scores when you apply for a mortgage: FICO® Score 2 (Experian) FICO® Score 5 (Equifax)
FICO ® Scores are the most widely used credit scores—90% of top lenders use FICO ® Scores. Every year, lenders access billions of FICO ® Scores to help them understand people's credit risk and make better–informed lending decisions.
As it's the largest of the credit reporting organisations, most Australian banks use Equifax credit scores in their assessments of credit worthiness. However, they can also use information from the other credit reporting organisations, as well as their own internal risk assessment measures.
Scores from Equifax and TransUnion are equally accurate as they both use their own scoring systems. Both credit agencies provide accurate scores, and whichever your lender opts for will provide suitable information.
Although ranges vary depending on the credit scoring model, generally credit scores from 580 to 669 are considered fair; 670 to 739 are considered good; 740 to 799 are considered very good; and 800 and up are considered excellent.
Many credit card companies rely on Equifax to check creditworthiness before approving a credit card application. Some of the major credit card companies that use Equifax include American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Wells Fargo.
TransUnion vs. Equifax: Which is most accurate? No credit score from any one of the credit bureaus is more valuable or more accurate than another. It's possible that a lender may gravitate toward one score over another, but that doesn't necessarily mean that score is better.
Many lenders furnish information to all three major credit bureaus, but some may furnish information to just one or two of them. This difference in data results in distinct credit reports with each bureau and can lead to differing credit scores across the bureaus.
There are three main credit reporting bodies in Australia: Equifax, Illion and Experian. For more information about Credit Reporting Bodies please visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
Equifax is based in Atlanta, Georgia and was founded in 1899, and is the second-largest credit bureau after Experian. While Equifax also uses the FICO scoring model, their own range is slightly different (see below). Equifax breaks down their credit factors as: Payment history (35%)
Your Equifax score is lower than the other credit scores because there is a slight difference in what is reported to each credit agency and each one uses a slightly different method to score your data. Your Experian, Equifax and TransUnion credit reports should be fairly similiar.
FICO® Scores☉ are used by 90% of top lenders, but even so, there's no single credit score or scoring system that's most important. In a very real way, the score that matters most is the one used by the lender willing to offer you the best lending terms.
Credit account information: This information is reported to Equifax by your creditors and includes the types of accounts (for example, a credit card, mortgage, student loan or vehicle loan), the date those accounts were opened, your credit limit or loan amount, account balances and your payment history.
When you are applying for a mortgage to buy a home, lenders will typically look at all of your credit history reports from the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. In most cases, mortgage lenders will look at your FICO score. There are different FICO scoring models.
For a score with a range between 300 and 850, a credit score of 700 or above is generally considered good. A score of 800 or above on the same range is considered to be excellent. Most consumers have credit scores that fall between 600 and 750. In 2022, the average FICO® Score☉ in the U.S. reached 714.
Your Experian score may be higher than what another credit bureau shows because Experian calculates credit scores using its own unique scoring model.
Equifax credit scores are provided to consumers for their own use to help them estimate their general credit position. Equifax credit scores are not used by lenders and creditors to assess consumers' creditworthiness.
What Are the Largest Three Credit Bureaus? The three major credit bureaus are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. These bureaus collect and maintain consumer credit information and then resell it to other businesses in the form of a credit report.
More companies use Experian for credit reporting than use Equifax. This alone does not make Experian better, but it does indicate that any particular debt is more likely to appear on an Experian reports.
Different credit scoring agencies calculate your credit score slightly differently. If your credit report shows scores out of 1,200 then as a rule of thumb a score above 853 is excellent while above 661 is good. If your credit report shows scores out of 1,000, above 690 is excellent and above 540 is good.
A poor credit score falls between 500 and 600, while a very poor score falls between 300 and 499. “In general, people with higher scores can get more credit at better rates,” VantageScore says. So you could have trouble getting approved for higher-limit, low-interest cards with a credit score of 600 or below.