cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Question about credit score

tag
codehavoc
Regular Contributor

Question about credit score

For the last 3 months I have been using my credit card to buy Christmas gifts for my family and I also treated myself to the iPhone 6 plus and a iPad. I noticed that due to my utilization on my credit cards my TU And Experian score had declined from the 740 range to 712 and 716 on the other hand my equifax that was at a stand still for about a year at 658 has went up to 696 and the the reason is because my balance increase on my cards. Why is this? and what happens when I pay these balances off



Starting Score: Equifax 582 Experian 610 Transunion 620
Current Score: Equifax 693 Experian 751 Transunion 739
Goal Score: Equifax 730 Experian 750 Transunion 750


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge



Message 1 of 5
4 REPLIES 4
codehavoc
Regular Contributor

Re: Question about credit score

Anybody???



Starting Score: Equifax 582 Experian 610 Transunion 620
Current Score: Equifax 693 Experian 751 Transunion 739
Goal Score: Equifax 730 Experian 750 Transunion 750


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge



Message 2 of 5
jamie123
Valued Contributor

Re: Question about credit score

To acheive the highest scores that you personally are capable of, you need to have 1 credit card report less than 10% of its credit line and all the rest of your cards report $0.

 

This is called credit utilization. It can have a dramatic effect on your scores month to month. The only time you really need to be concerned about it is when you plan on applying for new credit in the next month or want to see just how high you can get your scores.

 

Now, keep in mind, you do need the one card to report a small balance. If all your cards report $0 your scores will be lower than if one card reports a small balance.

 

The higher your utilization percentage rises the lower your scores will be. This could be a difference of 100 points in some extreme cases.


Starting Score: EQ 653 6/21/12
Current Score: EQ 817 3/10/20 - EX 820 3/13/20 - TU 825 3/03/20
Message 3 of 5
takeshi74
Senior Contributor

Re: Question about credit score


@codehavoc wrote:
I noticed that due to my utilization on my credit cards my TU And Experian score had declined from the 740 range to 712 and 716 on the other hand my equifax that was at a stand still for about a year at 658 has went up to 696 and the the reason is because my balance increase on my cards. Why is this? and what happens when I pay these balances off

Start here:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

 

Where did you read that the increased balances imcreased your score?  Which score are you referring to and where did you get it from?

 

Generally speaking, lower utilization is better but you don't want 0 utilization.  Utilization is calculated at that moment in time so if you utilization drops sufficiently you should see a score increase unless you're stuck in a higher bucket.  Always consider your sources, corroborate and validate.

 


@codehavoc wrote:
Anybody???

You need to give any discussion forum site at least a day for responses and even then they're not guaranteed.  If you need a faster answer then a discussion forum is the wrong tool for the job.

Message 4 of 5
codehavoc
Regular Contributor

Re: Question about credit score

I have the myfico credit monitoring subscription for all 3 credit reporting agencies and it alerts me when my score changes. The score decreased for TU and EX because of increased balances. And my EQ increased because of increased balances



Starting Score: Equifax 582 Experian 610 Transunion 620
Current Score: Equifax 693 Experian 751 Transunion 739
Goal Score: Equifax 730 Experian 750 Transunion 750


Take the myFICO Fitness Challenge



Message 5 of 5
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.