i had a $2,400 balance on one of my credit cards (less than 10% ultilization) that was PIF and when the 7th day came and the score refreshed CK shows my TU score dropped 18 points down to 738 (i know this ain't the real FICO score but it lets me see changes ASAP).
nothing else changed.
i always make 2-4 payments a month on all my credit cards and every payment is to pay the current balance so my credit reports are always showing very low ultilizations (1%-2%) and the scores keep going up but not this time. how does this make any sense?
@Anonymous wrote:Was the card that you paid off your only card?
Under FICO scoring models reporting all zero balances results in a score drop. This may also be the case with the VS 3.0 model as well, which CK uses, although I'm not certain about that. To maximize your scores under the FICO model you always want to have just 1 of your cards report a small balance. $5-$10 will suffice, or up to 8.99% of the credit limit of one of your cards.
i was under the impression that having a zero balance was better. i would usually make sure that around the middle of the month i would have all my cards paid off. but it looks like i'll just have to let the utilization reach about 1% ($250) and then at the start of the month pay off the rest of the balance to avoid any interest.
@Anonymous wrote:Was the card that you paid off your only card?
Under FICO scoring models reporting all zero balances results in a score drop. This may also be the case with the VS 3.0 model as well, which CK uses, although I'm not certain about that. To maximize your scores under the FICO model you always want to have just 1 of your cards report a small balance. $5-$10 will suffice, or up to 8.99% of the credit limit of one of your cards.
Either my HELOC counts as a revolving balance on VS 3, or it doesn't care about all zeros.
During my recent all zero's test, with just the HELOC reporting, my EX and EQ VS 3 scores have never been higher: they both hit 803.
@wilmer007 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Was the card that you paid off your only card?
Under FICO scoring models reporting all zero balances results in a score drop. This may also be the case with the VS 3.0 model as well, which CK uses, although I'm not certain about that. To maximize your scores under the FICO model you always want to have just 1 of your cards report a small balance. $5-$10 will suffice, or up to 8.99% of the credit limit of one of your cards.
i was under the impression that having a zero balance was better. i would usually make sure that around the middle of the month i would have all my cards paid off. but it looks like i'll just have to let the utilization reach about 1% ($250) and then at the start of the month pay off the rest of the balance to avoid any interest.
If the five cards are your entire portfolio, three of those are Chase and those will update the zero immediately when paid to zero, no carry-on reporting of a statement balance until the next statement if it goes to zero in the interim. Just food for thought.
So if you want to ensure that some sort of balance is in the credti bureaus at all times for scoring, either the Chase cards need to always have new charges before you finish paying off the statement balance, or the AMEX or BofA need to have reported a balance... and the timing of that to the next statement has to cover your Chase cards going to zero.
With FICO scores in the 780-818 range, what is the impact if the cards report balances naturally?
@NRB525 wrote:
@wilmer007 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Was the card that you paid off your only card?
Under FICO scoring models reporting all zero balances results in a score drop. This may also be the case with the VS 3.0 model as well, which CK uses, although I'm not certain about that. To maximize your scores under the FICO model you always want to have just 1 of your cards report a small balance. $5-$10 will suffice, or up to 8.99% of the credit limit of one of your cards.
i was under the impression that having a zero balance was better. i would usually make sure that around the middle of the month i would have all my cards paid off. but it looks like i'll just have to let the utilization reach about 1% ($250) and then at the start of the month pay off the rest of the balance to avoid any interest.
If the five cards are your entire portfolio, three of those are Chase and those will update the zero immediately when paid to zero, no carry-on reporting of a statement balance until the next statement if it goes to zero in the interim. Just food for thought.
So if you want to ensure that some sort of balance is in the credti bureaus at all times for scoring, either the Chase cards need to always have new charges before you finish paying off the statement balance, or the AMEX or BofA need to have reported a balance... and the timing of that to the next statement has to cover your Chase cards going to zero.
With FICO scores in the 780-818 range, what is the impact if the cards report balances naturally?
the CSP got approved yesterday (i plan to PC it to the Freedom once i get the 50k UR bonus) so it will take a month to show up. anyways i'll be keeping a few bucks here and then so it will report. now with the CSP i don't have to worry about the ultilzation as much.