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My Equifax score was 694 on Nov 16. The next day, there was a hard pull from Chase Bank & when I checked the score, it decreased to 678. I heard that a hard pull only decreases score by a couple of points.
Please note that there was no change in credit utilization so the decrease isn't attributed to the change in credit utilization.
Is this normal?
It can be normal. Other factors come into play such as total length of credit history and your AAoA.
For instance, mine dropped 2 points out of the blue one day. I combed over my reports and I couldn't find a single thing.
Yes the total length of credit history is 9 months.
But still, 16 points is WAY TOO MUCH.
So even if I bring my credit utilization to 0, I can't achieve an excellent score? I don't have any delinquency & I paid all my bills on time so far. There are a total of 5 enquiries up till now.
5 Inquiries with a total length of 9 months is probably the reason. I doubt another Inquiry would change your score at all.
OP, based on your post you pulled the day before and the day after to check the score change. Were both scores from the same source? What was that source?
The difference between 0 inquiry and 1 inquiry can be very significant. From the 2nd inquiry on, the effect on scores becomes increasingly negligible.
The source is MyFico Scorewatch.
So as per HiLine, there shouldn't be ANY change. Isn't a 16 point decrease WAY TOO WEIRD?
The new credit category, of which the exact parameters and their weightings have not been fully disclosed by BrotherFair, is supposed to be a measure of your recent quest for new credit. Lottsa activity makes creditors nervous, and may indicate new credit is need to pay other debt.
Included are such actions as apps for new credit, as monitored by credit inquiries, new accounts within approx one year, as measured by time from date opened. I would suspect that having multiple parameters would be a factor, thus making the impact different for different new credit profiles. For example, a recent hard pull for one with no accounts under one year may very well score differently than one who has several new accounts.
Regardless of speculation on what exactly is included and their weightings, being a measure of recent credit means that it is transitory.
If one does not plan to use their score within the immediate future, it becomes kinda academic.
To the degree that it is relevant to scoring, which has an approximate overall weight of only 10% of total score, it fades away.
FICO only considers new inquiries, for example, to be relevant to consumer risk if made within the last year.
New credit is needed to build future score. You take a hit for about a year, but then it becomes the foundation to build upon.
I would opine that the moral is... if you seek a lot of new credit, expect some creditor and FICO wariness for about a year or so. Makes sense to me.
@cowboyguy wrote:So as per HiLine, there shouldn't be ANY change. Isn't a 16 point decrease WAY TOO WEIRD?
It's unusual, I concede. If your goal is a score above 700, I would keep utilization around 2%. My Score Watch score was right around 700 at 9 months' history, one credit card, and 5 inquiries.