Our Forums' FICO High Achievers: Who has at least one FICO Score of 760 or above?

[Anonymous]

That's wonderful news, txjohn!

I just reviewed your earlier post where you wrote that your 05/18/2005 scores were: EQ-580, TU-563, and EX-549.   That's truly a remarkable increase!

Congratulations!

[257Roberts]

My first post here . . . I just foujnd Myfico.

So . . . today I decide to finally check my credit score.  Went to another site and pulled down the TransUnion score.  Got a 990.  Okay, something's not right.  

I found myfico.com and read up on FAKOs, then purchased the reports through this site.

771 on TU and 801 on EQ.  

Question:  The report on TU said that one thing holding back that number was heavy use of a credit card.  I use an American Express for a lot of business expenses (self-employed), and it runs $8,000 to $14,000 a month, but we pay off the balance each month, as is required by AMEX.

How or why does using a card but paying the entire balance off each month count against a person?  We have zero credit card balances.

I do realize these are good scores, but I was just wondering about that part of the report. 

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, welcome to the forums!

If you haven't already, please read Understanding Your FICO ® Score and Credit Scoring 101 (at least the first post.)

These will give you the background knowledge you need to understand what you read here on the forums.

The credit bureaus are generally given the balance that is due on the date that each CC statement drops. (A few banks report the balance at the end of the month, but almost all the others go with the statement balance.) Unfortunately, this means that there is nowhere to report or indicate that you do in fact pay the balance in full.

Your scores are great as they are (congrats!), but if you ever need to tweak extra points from TU, pay your balance due online 3-4 days before the next statement is due. Let one card report a neglible balance, and the others report $0. This will dramatically reduce your credit utilization.

AmEx is a special PITA in this area, because they report the balance on the statement, but they don't send that figure to the credit bureaus for four more weeks. So in other words, if your statement drops on the 15th of each month, they will take that number and not send it in until the 12th of the following month (depending on the number of days in the month.) Then three days later, they'll send out another statement, with the next balance, which won't post for 4 more weeks after that. In the meantime, the first balance (from the month before) is showing on your reports.

This means that there is a two month turn-around time on controlling the balance that American Express cards (charge and revolving) show, so keep this in mind if you want to use this work-around.

[257Roberts]

Thanks.  I like using AMEX for the year-end summary.  It makes tax season much easier.

So far, I've avoided any online banking.   It's generational, I think.  I also don't use ATMs and don't have a debit card.  <shrug>

Went deep into the credit card well twice years ago, and climbed back out.  Never going to do that again.  

The enforced dicipline that AMEX requires by paying the balance each month really helped.  Now all bills get paid each week.  Still sending checks, though.

[haulingthescoreup]

You can do this with mailed checks, although there's that built-in time lag.

So what you could do --again, only if you needed to squeeze out points --is mail in a check 7 days (10 days?) before statement date with the balance that you've accumulated thus far. That way, as long as they credit it to your account before the statement drops, you'll have a much lower balance report, which will help your util and should raise your score.

I wouldn't worry about it with the scores you have. Just something to tuck into the corner of your mind.

[Anonymous]

Just got back from vacation, so I HAD to pull my FICOs    You know, I was forced to use the 30% off coupon. 

New scores are below for TU and EQ.  Hoping to break into the elusive 800 club.  Current utility is 4%, but I have a new Citi account opened in November.

[Anonymous]

Equifax 805
Experian 686
TU 681

I have a bogus CA from Nov 08 which I'm still trying to get off the other two

What I've read here helped me get it deleted by Equifax (thanks!!)

and some of the other tweaks I learned here helped me get Equifax above 800 because even before the CA I was only in the high 700's

hopefully I'll be more firmly entrenched in this club soon!!!

[Anonymous]

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@Scout1965 wrote:

Just got back from vacation, so I HAD to pull my FICOs    You know, I was forced to use the 30% off coupon. 

New scores are below for TU and EQ.  Hoping to break into the elusive 800 club.  Current utility is 4%, but I have a new Citi account opened in November.

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Hi Scout1965!

I hope you had a great vacation.

Considering you recently opened a new account, you're doing exceptionally well with your scores! 

Congratulations!

Message Edited by psychic on 03-26-2009 07:08 PM

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Equifax 805
Experian 686
TU 681

I have a bogus CA from Nov 08 which I'm still trying to get off the other two

What I've read here helped me get it deleted by Equifax (thanks!!)

and some of the other tweaks I learned here helped me get Equifax above 800 because even before the CA I was only in the high 700's

hopefully I'll be more firmly entrenched in this club soon!!!

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Hi AKCheese!

Having an 805 EQ score is quite an accomplishment!

Welcome to the 800-club, and congratulations on being a FICO High Achiever!

[Anonymous]

TU 805, EQ 815, EX 837