Trying to improve my scores with Bank Americard

[Anonymous]

I have a Bank Americard with a $500 CL that I opened back in June. I was steadily going up a few points every month and last month I maxed the card out at $498 and my score dropped 15 points. I've actually done that before but this time my statement closed with that balance. I understand the utilization and keeping it under 30% but well I needed it last month.

I think my problem is is more that every month it says this on thier FICO score page:


Too few accounts currently paid as agreed

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.
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.


I have never missed a payment on this card or had a late paymet here or anywhere else. I think when they send my info to the credit bureaus it is about the same time my statement comes out so it's looking unpaid. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

Last month my FICO was updated on 11/19.
This month, my statement closed on 12/18 and I had a "make payment" button so I used it. I paid $55 to get my balance down to $99.00.
The payment posted 12/20 and they are considering it credited on 12/19. I called and asked and they said I paid a day early so it went towards the last statement which is pointless  since it's not like they could change my statement balance. So now I still owe a payment and it's going to continue to show on FICO as an account not paid as agreed. Anyone ever have this problem? I tried asking customer service when they report to the credit bureaus and was told it's usually at the beginning of the month but it's completely random. So I guess their randomness is effecting my score? Anyone know for sure if it is a radom date every month? I know it says my FICO is normally updated towards the end of the month. Last month it updated on the 22nd.

My minium payment due is $25 with a balance of $99. I know it looks bad to pay the minimum so should I just pay it off at this point? Seems lame to only pay $55 like that's all I can afford this month.

[Anonymous]

do you see the link to request an increase?

[Anonymous]

No, I thought it would be there this month on the 6month mark but it's not.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

No, I thought it would be there this month on the 6month mark but it's not.

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sometimes its 4 months. I wouldnt worry tooo tooo much about letting such a high amount report, but then again its going to affect your scores, I'd PIF by statement cut date. what other cards do you have?

[Anonymous]

This is my only card. I made the mistake on the 3 month mark of requesting a CLI over the phone and getting a hard pull.

Do you think just paying by the time the Fico page updates matters the most?

[fltireguy]

OK... you need to have it paid by the day before the satement cuts (example- statement date is the 6th of the month. so you would make sure the balance is paid by the 5th.) You can leave a small balance, like $10-20 on the card, that might help your scores.

You need 2 other cards to help your score

The BofA secured, or partially secured card is an awesome card- especially beause they have no problem PC'ing it into a cash rewards card after it unsecures

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This is my only card. I made the mistake on the 3 month mark of requesting a CLI over the phone and getting a hard pull.

Do you think just paying by the time the Fico page updates matters the most?

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What matters the most is paying before your bill cycles as that is when BoA will report your current credit information.  I think there will be a trend where free monthly updates will be done more frequently.  CapitalOne, for example, went from a monthly free credit score to a weekly free credit score.  My credit cards' bill date are different so my credit score will change multiple times within a month.  Since you have the one, you need to pay before the date your bill cycles.  For example, your credit score may update on the 1st of each month but your BoA credit card may cycle on the 5th of each month.

[CreditMagic7]

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@fltireguy wrote:

OK... you need to have it paid by the day before the satement cuts (example- statement date is the 6th of the month. so you would make sure the balance is paid by the 5th.) You can leave a small balance, like $10-20 on the card, that might help your scores.

You need 2 other cards to help your score

The BofA secured, or partially secured card is an awesome card- especially beause they have no problem PC'ing it into a cash rewards card after it unsecures

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+1

You won't get very far without having a couple of more credit cards in order to obtain some maximum scoring as well as let BofA see that you are trying to expand a credit profile.

Just relying on that single card as you see is severely limiting. YOU NEED OPTIONS

Stay around and read up as much as you can to better help you make those decisions that will help you best as you begin to establish a profile.

It takes some time but you also have latched onto a very good Lender early on which will go a long way with making progress going forward.

[steel_string]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have never missed a payment on this card or had a late paymet here or anywhere else. I think when they send my info to the credit bureaus it is about the same time my statement comes out so it's looking unpaid. Has anyone else ever had this problem?

 

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OK, so it's saying that you don't have enough accounts without lates, etc. Since you don't have any lates, that just means you don't have enough accounts.

[Anonymous]

My November statement ended 11/18 with a balance of $417
11/19 Fico went down 15 points.
The bill was due 12/15.
I paid $350 on 12/6

If I were to pay $417 before 11/18 then it would look as if I didn't use the card at all which they also don't like. I've read of people not getting credit line increases because they paid in full every month.


If Fico doesn't update soon then maybe I'll pay it in full and see if that "not paid as agreed" thing goes away.