Loan Companies That Use Equifax Only (2024)

FAQs

Loan Companies That Use Equifax Only? ›

PenFed Credit Union is the only loan company that uses only your Equifax credit data. In most cases, you won't be able to determine beforehand which credit bureaus your lender will use. In some cases, lenders will pull your credit report from two or even all three major credit bureaus.

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Equifax will communicate your zip code and the purpose of the loan you are interested in to LendingTree. Equifax does not receive or use any other information you provide about your request. LendingTree will share your information with their nationwide network of providers.

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.

As part of their process of determining whether to loan you money and at what rates and what terms, the lender may use the information in your Equifax credit report to help them make their decision.

TransUnion uses the VantageScore^® model when calculating your credit score, based on a range of 300 – 850. A “good” score may rest in the 661 – 720 range. Equifax, meanwhile, uses its own scoring model with a range of 280 – 850, with “good” being 670 – 739 and higher. Their algorithm closely resembles the FICO^® model.

Credit Cards That Use Equifax

Some of the major credit card companies that use Equifax include American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Discover, and Wells Fargo. These companies use Equifax to verify your identity, check your credit history, and evaluate your credit score.

Closing Thoughts. In terms of accuracy and reliability, both TransUnion and Equifax will do their job and provide precise information; the only difference between them is that they use different algorithms to generate credit reports.

Equifax and TransUnion have different scores because slightly different information is reported to each credit reporting agency. In addition, TransUnion reports your employment history and personal information.

Here's the short answer: The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma come directly from TransUnion and Equifax, two of the three major consumer credit bureaus. The credit scores and reports you see on Credit Karma should accurately reflect your credit information as reported by those bureaus.

What is a good credit score for Equifax? ›

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.

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.

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.

Since the information on your credit reports at each bureau can differ, your Equifax credit score and FICO score can differ depending on which credit report is used to calculate the score. The Equifax credit score model uses a numerical range between 280 and 850, and FICO score models use a range between 300 and 850.

At Equifax, your score is on a scale of 0 to 1200, whereas Experian calculates it on a scale of 0 to 1000. Of course, the algorithms they use for calculating the score are also different. As a result, you may notice a difference in your score across these bureaus.

The main difference is Experian grades it between 0 – 1000, while Equifax grades the score between 0 – 1200. This means that there is not only a clear 200 point difference between these two bureaus but the “perfect scores” are also different, which is 1000 as reported by Experian and 1200 as reported by Equifax.

For example, lenders who make offers to loan shoppers on the LendingTree platform do so using a score from TransUnion, which is modeled on the FICO score (although mortgage lenders may later include FICO scores is the full underwriting file because Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA require those scores).

The FICO Score is the most commonly used model employed by lenders. In fact, 90% of lenders in the U.S. use FICO Score.

Credit bureaus

This service is free and comes with monthly updates on your credit score. As part of this service, you'll get your credit score based on the VantageScore 3.0 model from data on your Equifax credit report.

Does LendingTree and/or each lender pull my credit? LendingTree pulls your credit report when you complete a loan request. LendingTree's inquiry does not count towards your credit score nor does it show up on your credit report to anyone but you.