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25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

tag
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

Hi BBS.  Can you clarify the minimum dolar value you had reporting for each of the nonzero tradelines?  Was the balance at least $5?  You do mention that the individual util was 1% -- but since FICO rounds up, that might mean that you were using ultrasmall balances (e.g. $2).

 

A number of people have reported that FICO sometimes will treat an ultrasmall balance as though it were $0, and it seems unrelated to the credit limit.  It's weird because it also seems to be a bit random.  This has been reported for values up through $3.01.

 

My apologies if you told us and I missed it.

Message 11 of 18
driftless
Valued Contributor

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

I pay on my due dates and I don't worry if a charge posts between the due date. FWIW - even if all of my cards are reporting a balance, albeit a small one, I don't see a drop.
CSR | Amex Platinum | EDP | QS (2)
Amex Blue Business Plus
Message 12 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!


@Anonymous wrote:

Hi BBS.  Can you clarify the minimum dolar value you had reporting for each of the nonzero tradelines?  Was the balance at least $5?  You do mention that the individual util was 1% -- but since FICO rounds up, that might mean that you were using ultrasmall balances (e.g. $2).

 

A number of people have reported that FICO sometimes will treat an ultrasmall balance as though it were $0, and it seems unrelated to the credit limit.  It's weird because it also seems to be a bit random.  This has been reported for values up through $3.01.

 

My apologies if you told us and I missed it.


Sure thing.  All balances reported were > $3.  Rounded to the nearest dollar they ranged from $6 to $303.

Message 13 of 18
manyquestions
Established Contributor

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

I think the "one card reporting a balance" as optimum comes from versions of FICO before FICO 08.  For me, the mortgage scores tend to react much more to number of cards with balances. 

Message 14 of 18
Thomas_Thumb
Senior Contributor

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

^ Agreed

 

I posted the below excerpt last year as a reference to Fico 04 and Fico 08 looking at CC accounts reporting balances differently.

 

Can't say anyone has provided concrete data that scores actually can increase on Fico 08 by reporting balances on more cards (relative to one only) but, many don't experience score drops the way they have with Fico 04.

 

Your Credit Score.jpg

Fico 9: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 8: .......EQ 850 TU 850 EX 850
Fico 4 .....:. EQ 809 TU 823 EX 830 EX Fico 98: 842
Fico 8 BC:. EQ 892 TU 900 EX 900
Fico 8 AU:. EQ 887 TU 897 EX 899
Fico 4 BC:. EQ 826 TU 858, EX Fico 98 BC: 870
Fico 4 AU:. EQ 831 TU 872, EX Fico 98 AU: 861
VS 3.0:...... EQ 835 TU 835 EX 835
CBIS: ........EQ LN Auto 940 EQ LN Home 870 TU Auto 902 TU Home 950
Message 15 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

Hello TT.  I agree that the odd thing about the Liz Weston quote is her claim that having more positive balances will increase your FICO 8 score.  It's one thing to say that FICO 8 no longer penalizes you for having lots of small positive balances.  It's another thing that FICO has shifted gears so entirely that it is now going in the reverse direction -- that what was regarded as a bad thing is now something you get rewarded for.

 

That sounds like a stretch.  I am trying to imagine what she could be basing this on.  I seriously doubt she has tested it.  Sounds like something she thinks she remembers someone at FICO telling her.  FICO's Anthony Sprauve is notorious for failing to understand how his company's models work -- wonder if it might have been him.

Message 16 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!


@Anonymous wrote:

Interesting data point here that I thought I'd share with the group.  This result based on the data below seems odd to me, but perhaps my perception or understanding wasn't solid on the subject.  I was always under the impression that letting only 1 revolver report a small balance was the way to go for maximum scoring, or less than 50% of your cards.  For starters, one data point I learned a few months back was that if I let 0 cards report I lose on average 18 points per bureau.  That piece of data was in line with what I read on the forum here so no surprises there.

 

So, I have 5 total revolvers.  One of them (Blispay) only reports to EX where one of them (Amex) reports to the other 2B but not EX, resulting in exactly 4 revolvers reporting to each bureau.  I have no clue why my Amex isn't reporting to EX; I've contacted them about this and my inquiries have gotten me no where but that's a different subject.

 

So anyway, I've been letting 1 of 4 cards (25%) report monthly and always a balance of 1% utilization, which by default equates to 1% aggregate utilization for FICO purposes.  I pulled my scores on 10/19/16 when only 1 of 4 cards had a balance reported.  They were EX 749, TU 763, EQ 750.

 

On 11/4/16 I let another card report (by accident really) so I pulled my scores on 11/8/16 and they hadn't budged.  This was now with 2 of 4 cards reporting a balance, or 50%.

 

At that point I said what the heck, let me let this keep going.  On the 14th another reported (75%) and scores pulled on the 16th indicated no change again.  Finally on the 18th my last card reported a balance (100%), and I pulled my scores 2 days ago on 11/24/16 and they are still exactly the same... EX 749, TU 763, EQ 750.

 

So over 5 weeks all 3 of my scores have not budged, not even a single point on any bureau, and I've had everything from 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of my cards reporting balances during that time.  Again, all reported balances were 1%.

 

Any thoughts here?  I guess it's good to know that going forward with my profile I can let as much as all of my cards report a small balance and not lose any FICO 08 points?


Huh interesting thanks for the info, I have thought this was the case for awhile. 

Message 17 of 18
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: 25%-100% of cards reporting, no score change!

I'm a little over 2 weeks away from being able to report a higher balance on my one lower limit CC.  I'll be sure to pop back in and revive this thread when that time comes to add to the data points here.

Message 18 of 18
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