I thought 'credit score' was meaningless

mjm3346

mazzetti said:

Well it was a genuine question and I have always wondered about two people applying for say a Lloyds bank credit card - one with a credit score of 999 and one with a credit score of 15 and and the perceived wisdom on here is that the numbers just don't matter....

Also as it happens  (I'm sure I'm in the minority) I'm quite a fan of the Daily Mail financial section including their 'this is money' podcast but I appreciate that it is probably far too basic for most people on here

Sponsored by a company that among other things makes money out of people who pay for a "credit score" - I seem to remember there was a bit of research that showed that smoking was safe, think that was funded by some of the tobacco companies.

mazzetti

Wow you definitely need to have a thick skin to post on this forum...

Anyway I apologise unreservedly to everybody here for posting a question about credit scores I will try to do better next time thank you

D3xt3r5L4b

mazzetti said:

Wow you definitely need to have a thick skin to post on this forum...

Anyway I apologise unreservedly to everybody here for posting a question about credit scores I will try to do better next time thank you

Or read the sticky at the top of the “Credit Files” board 

Time2Go_25

mazzetti said:

It has often been said on here that credit score is meaningless or at least doesn't matter however they seem to put quite a lot of emphasis on it here...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-8709099/Credit-card-availability-bounces-higher-credit-scores.html

Wow, one company that prints anything but facts and the other who are only interested in selling their services and people believe them.

born_again

mazzetti said:

Well it was a genuine question and I have always wondered about two people applying for say a Lloyds bank credit card - one with a credit score of 999 and one with a credit score of 15 and and the perceived wisdom on here is that the numbers just don't matter....

They don't.
No lender can see these numbers. They use their own credit scoring which depends on their appetite to take on more credit and the credit history of the applier. 
All they look at is the payment history. Credit ref co's are only used for detail checks.
Odds on that 15 has missed quite a few payments, where the 999 has not.

Ebe_Scrooge

Put it this way.  I work for a bank, in IT, and the project I'm on at the moment is a new loan product we're developing.  We certainly do have interfaces to Experian, that contain lots of data, which gets fed into our decision algorithms.  I'll give you 3 guesses as to one data item that's not included in the file layout :-)

bradders1983

But but but but the Daily Mail said...!

Fingerbobs

Personally, I love watching my Experian credit score go up and down on that nice colourful gauge they show in their app. Contrary to the perceived wisdom on these forums, I don't think it's entirely without merit. An unexpected change to the score is a good indicator that something significant has changed on my credit file, prompting a more detailed examination. 

D3xt3r5L4b

Fingerbobs said:

Personally, I love watching my Experian credit score go up and down on that nice colourful gauge they show in their app. Contrary to the perceived wisdom on these forums, I don't think it's entirely without merit. An unexpected change to the score is a good indicator that something significant has changed on my credit file, prompting a more detailed examination. 

And 9 times out of 10 it’s nothing. Or you have a slightly higher than usual credit card balance reported leading up to Christmas. And so on. 

eddddy

Experian score you based on the data they hold about you.

When you apply for credit, the lenders score you based on:

• The information that Experian (and/or other CRAs) hold about you
• The information you provide on your application form
• Their customer database - if you are already a customer of their other products
• National Hunter database
• Maybe some other data sources

There are also issues like whether the lender is near their quota limits for a particular product, or wether they're keen to lend more.

So your credit history might be excellent (hence a good Experian / CRA score), but your employment status down-scores you, and / or your home ownership status.

Also different lenders might be looking for different profiles. For example, some credit card companies might want customers who they think will maintain high levels of borrowing (so pay lots of interest), others might be happy with customers who pay off their balance each month.