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by GoodbyeMrChips 1679 days ago
Except we don't have a "credit score" in the UK.

Credit reference agencies instead report credit history.

The difference is a subtle but very important one, as it allows companies to assess your individual circumstances, rather than base decisions on an arbitrary score.

The above misunderstanding is so commonplace that the Redit UKPersoanlFinace sub had (has?) a bot explaining this on every UK post mentioning 'credit score'. Here "credit scores" are instead a marketing gimmick launched by credit reference agencies to get consumers to subscribe to monitoring services. The 'score' they give is meaningless.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2021/06/martin-lewis-cred...

1 comments

It works exactly like this in the US too. The numbers shown to consumers are not what big financial institutions base their decisions on.

By the same logic credit scores don’t exist in the US either. It’s just an approximation, your bank still makes their own decisions.