😎 Here's a little personal, real-life example of how the SECU Board has thrown the membership to the wolves, by using FICO credit scores to slam member-borrowers with higher loan rates unjustly...
... uh-oh!
What did I do?
May 27, 2024: Dear JAMES BLAINE,
We've detected a change in your FICO® Score. Your score has decreased -69 points.
Your FICO® Score can increase if you:
- Pay your bills on time - [Always have!]
- Use less credit than you have available - [Always do!]
- Keep your credit accounts open and in good standing - [Always have!]
Your FICO® Score can decrease if you:
- Miss monthly payments - [Never have!]
- Max out your credit accounts - [Never do!]
- Apply for new credit such as a credit card or a loan - [Haven't done that either!]
What's next?
Log in to MyCredit Guide to see your new FICO® [Here's what it shows!]
A -69 point drop in a member's credit score can have a substantial impact on the rate SECU borrowers are (over)-charged under risk-based lending. That sort of drop can take a member from the A-tier ("best rate") to the C-tier (worst rate) in the blink of an eye! And no one at SECU wants to hear you whining about "this is crazy" - and of course, any sort of appeal to reason and fairness, through the member Loan Review Committees is long gone!
And, if it's an error on the credit report? Well of course that's your problem, not theirs. It's your responsibility to fix it ! As mentioned above: "That's crazy"!
SECU's risk-based, race-based lending based on a FICO credit score is "arbitrary and capricious" (be sure to look up that phrase as it relates to discrimination!) - and simply unjust.
😎 "The We" don't really care what you say anymore "no excuses"!
At SECU these days, you are your score - no less, no more!
How about the member who had an almost 20 year lending history with perfect credit who’s spouse gay cancer and died after a 2 year battle. There were a handful of missed payments due to said battle. SECU cared enough to do loan modifications but doesn’t care enough to charge a fair rate for new lending. Guess they should have picked a different spouse? How dare they get sick and die! This individual is now “high risk C-paper” material who doesn’t have a rich, privileged, white lady to co-sign for them.
ReplyDeleteSECU doing the WRONG thing since September 2021 and counting!
Still mind-boggling how SECU ended up here stuck with RBL as a policy. Is it stubbornness that you refuse to right a wrong or arrogance to think you're smarter than everyone else or ignorance that you're just not capable of "getting it"?
ReplyDeleteIt's a really bad look.
Everybody else does it.
DeleteOur credit score has always been exceptional. Years ago, we were encouraged by a Wells Fargo branch employee to apply for their credit card. The following week ,we applied and were declined. Wells Fargo refused to explain why. We then applied for a credit card at SECU which was promptly approved. The only reason we could think of for Wells Fargo declining us... was that we always pay off our entire bill each month and never pay interest. With the changes in the past few years, I feel SECU is headed the direction of Wells Fargo and other banks. I fear that credit unions will extinct themselves if they act like everyone else.
ReplyDeletethings that make you wonder what's in the formula they don't want to share .... age discrimination ? retired ? ...
ReplyDeleteetc ...
“What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is my own.” James Joyce
ReplyDeletethe new/new at SECU ... but it's always been this way with industry standard ... greed and lust for power!
SECU should publish the tier cutoff points for scores if they are so invested in transparency. How many members are below C and excluded from getting a loan? Sure would like to know that.
ReplyDeleteThought I would add some more enlightenment on how I can improve my credit score from FICO:
ReplyDelete* Key Factors affecting your FICO® Score*
**** Lack of recent installment loan information:
1) FICO® Scores consider recent non-mortgage installment loan (such as auto or student loans) information on a person's credit report. Your score was impacted because your credit report shows no recent non-mortgage installment loans or insufficient recent information about your loans.
[MY SCORE WAS "IMPACTED" BECAUSE I HAD "NO RECENT NON-MORTGAGE INSTALLMENT LOANS" OR "INSUFFICIENT RECENT INFORMATION"????]
2) Keep in mind: In general, people who purchase with an installment loan and pay back the loan on time tend to demonstrate the ability to manage a variety of credit types. However, a new account opening, and to a lesser extent the credit inquiry associated with applying for a new account, may demonstrate higher risk in the short term.
[I HAVE NEITHER APPLIED FOR NOR OPENED ANY NEW ACCOUNTS!]
**** Too few accounts currently paid as agreed:
3) FICO® Scores consider the number of accounts that are paid as agreed. Your score was impacted because the number of these accounts is too low, or because you've missed payments recently on some of your accounts, or you have accounts with derogatory indicators reported.
[HAVE ONLY 2 CREDIT CARD ACCOUNTS (NO OTHER LOANS), NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT NOR BEEN LATE. I APOLOGIZE THAT "THE NUMBER OF THESE ACCOUNTS IS TOO LOW"]
4) Keep in mind: In general, people that have very few accounts paid as agreed or have missed payments recently on some of their accounts tend to appear more risky to lenders. [AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE THAT I HAVE PAID ALL ACCOUNTS AS AGREED FOR DECADES, BUT HAVE TOO FEW ACCOUNTS. GUESS THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO PLUNGE INTO SOME UNNECESSARY DEBT!]
5) *Key Factors affecting your FICO® Score are provided by FICO. [THESE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE FROM FICO ]
**** Too few accounts currently paid as agreed:
ReplyDeleteHad this on mine ... have never missed a payment or been late for as long as I can remember ...
Maybe I need to raise my debt limit ... I'll be holding a vote tonight .... I second thought ....
**** Too few accounts currently paid as agreed:
DeleteI had this too. You need to have some debt, but not too much. You need to carry a balance that is not too low and not too high. You need to have the right kind of debt. It is a Goldilocks game.
and social credit scoring is next ... eat meat -25 points ... etc ...
DeleteYes this is crazy and so is the secu board. put 4 more out in october.
ReplyDeleteYes!
DeleteI use to have an 850 a while ago. I've paid of my mortgage and have been paying all credit cards off each month so no debt. My score now is 810.
ReplyDeleteCredit Scores are a controlling mechanism for profit pure and simple (Industry Standard) ... someone found a way to rape and pillage the membership ... Blackbeard lives ... only it's in Raleigh now!
ReplyDeleteHere's one more reason provided by FICO as to why there was a abrupt -69 point drop in my credit score. Were you aware if you used your cards "too much" within the limits set, that it would hurt your credit? Does that make sense? What is "too high", who determines that? This not only crazy, it's discriminatory in the worst sense of the word..Yet the CU is using it to judge and financially penalize the majority of members.
ReplyDeleteWhy can no one at SECU tell us what the rules of this credit scoring racket are ?
👉 "Proportion of balances to credit limits on bank/national revolving or other revolving accounts is too high"
"As one of the most important score factors, FICO® Scores evaluate account balances in relation to available credit on revolving and/or open-ended accounts. " Your score was impacted because your proportion of balances to credit limits on these accounts is too high."
"Why can no one at SECU tell us what the rules of this credit scoring racket are ?"
DeleteBecause they don't even know ... only the person behind the curtain knows ... the great Wizard of FICO ...
"Why can no one at SECU tell us what the rules of this credit scoring racket are ?"
ReplyDeleteBecause they don't even know ... only the person behind the curtain knows ... the great Wizard of FICO ...