Why does my credit report information and 3 credit scores vary between Equifax, Experian and Transunion?

Ever wondered why your credit report information and 3 credit scores vary?  If you have ever looked in detail at the your credit report information and 3 credit scores from each of the three credit reporting agencies, you know that your credit report information and 3 credit scores can and usually do vary. If you wondered why, here is the simple answer:

Why your credit report information varies:

• Different business & credit reporting agency relationships - each bank, credit card company, mortgage company, etc have different credit reporting agencies they update on a regular basis. In many cases, each company does not update all three of the credit reporting agencies. So, for example, when you make a late payment on your bank visa, the information might go to Equifax and Experian, but not to TransUnion.
• Different court records - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion are all seperate companies and have their own set of employees / staff that have to monitor new court records and update each of our credit reports. Some of the credit reporting agencies do their job better than others. The credit reporting agencies compete for access to public records.

Why your 3 credit scores vary:

• Different credit scoring models - each of the 3 credit reporting agencies use different credit scoring models. For example, Equifax might give a little more weight to late payments. It is not unusual for credit scores to vary by up to 50-100 points between the three credit reporting agencies.
• Different credit report information - your 3 credit scores and your credit report information is tied together. Because each agency may have different information on their credit report, the score that the agency creates will differ also.

So there it is, the reasons your credit report information and 3 credit scores usually will vary between Experian, Equifax and Transunion. Hope you find the information helpful.