Difference in credit scores
 

I recently signed up for CreditKarma and CreditSesame and noticed a big difference in what they call my credit score (775 vs. 840). One of them comes from Transunion, the other from Experian. Does anybody know how that relates to what is commonly called FICO score?

My scores from both Credit Sesame and Credit Karma are very similar. Both scores are in the excellent range, but they are about 20 points lower than my actual FICO score (which a credit union kindly sent me after I was approved for their credit card).

Your credit score of 840 on Credit Sesame is very high; 850 is the top of their scale.

Both Credit Sesame and Credit Karma give you estimates of your credit scores. For me, they are close to my real scores, like 10 points off or so. But I have read reports where people have said they are as much as 50 points off.

Yeah. They're just fairly educated guesses based on your information. Just go to myfico.com and get your real credit score. Should only cost $15 or so. Try googling for a coupon code.

Your FICO score is the real deal. It's what lenders will actually use when determining your credit worthiness. IMO, Credit Sesame and & Karma scores are nothing more than marketing gimmicks. Those two are only estimates of what your FICO could actually be.

I've been a FICO Scorewatch member for about 6 months now. It's interesting to watch my score jump around simply by the credit card companies closing my statements each month. Over the past 6 months, I've had 4 emailed alerts, 3 revisions to my score up and one down.

Keep in mind that FICO only offers scores from Transunion and Equifax, you will have to go Experian's web site to pull your "Experian Plus" score.

If I check my credit score(s) from any of these websites, will that count as a pull? The sites that estimate my score, I imagine won't hurt me, what about myfico.com?

www.myfico.com is a "soft" pull. A hard pull is when one applies for credit, etc. Myfico won't ding your score. I done ordered a few myfico's myself but it cost some $.

Citi identity monitor is pretty good at only $4.95 a month.
http://www.identitymonitor.citi.com/index.aspx

How accurate is this?

As reported recently, what you see from a credit rating agency is not what a financial institution sees. At least what you pull from an agency is reliable. But, if you are looking at something major such as a mortgage, where a 0.1%rate difference can make an enormous difference over time, ask your mortgage broker what they are seeing for problems because that's what counts.

My Fico scorewatch is bouncing around by 40+ points depending on how much credit utilization is showing at any given time. Since I am refinancing a mortgage, I signed up for a 3 month scorewatch. As a result, I am paying my bill mid-cycle and hoping that this payment strategy will keep my score up high. I have no lates and a fairly lengthy credit history. I have been quite surprised at the range in scoring. The fico forums have some interesting comments about scores and are worth perusing.

Credit Secure
 

Today's Credit Karma score was 40 points less than last week's Experian.

American Express is offering a 30 day trial of its Credit Secure service for $1. This will show all three bureaus' scores twice. That is, you can get November's and December's scores in one 30-day trial.

Be sure to calendar the end date for the trial, as the monthly service will then cost $15.

I have such a wide variety of scores:

Credit Sesame: 811
Credit Karma: 774
Experian (via US Bank): 735
Transunion (from Barclay's app): 764
Identity Monitor (Citi): 744EQ, 720EX, 735TU

Who do I believe? Most of the banks pull Experian where I am (only 3 TU pulls in 2 years and only EQ pulls were utilities and investment account).

It's important to check your credit report to make sure Experian, Equifax and Transunion have correct info for you. A friend checked his last week and all three had major mistakes for him and there were differences among them in these mistakes.
So, if you're seeing big discrepancies in your scores, check your report. (Actually it's good to check your report from time to time even if there are no discrepancies.)
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

90% of the banks pull experian so the others are basically useless
creditkarma was like 30 points low for my Partner