Score drop after BT

[pdvandassociates]

Hello -

I recently transferred about 5 balances to my new penfed card. Once the penfed card showed up on my equifax, and experian...as well as the reduced balances that i transferred my score dropped 29 points.

Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

It depends on a number of factors. If after the balance transfer, your new PenFed card is reporting a very high utilization, it can lower your score; meanwhile if say the other accounts' balances are not updated yet or you didn't pay them to zero, you then have a number of accounts with balances, which can also bring down your score. Of course the new account bringing down your average age of accounts is also a factor.

[AverageJoesCredit]

I think it can be. I recently paid down one of my balances by $1400 and my TU dropped 18 points and my EX 16 points. I did close a couple cardd too so not sure if that was a factor but my utilization was not affected so it was weird. I wouldnt worry, theyll bounce back eventually

[Anonymous]

The point drop is probably attributed to the reset of AoYA (age of youngest account) to zero as well as drop in AAoA when the PenFed card reported for the first time.

[NRB525]

OP what is the utilization reporting on the PenFed account?

[pdvandassociates]

I transferred 21k. Limit 33500. So that is like 63%. I dont think all the other cards have fully reported though. The ones that did reported w the interest left over from due date to new statement date. So utilization on old cards abt 3% on 4 or so cards out of 6.

[SouthJamaica]

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@pdvandassociates wrote:
I transferred 21k. Limit 33500. So that is like 63%. I dont think all the other cards have fully reported though. The ones that did reported w the interest left over from due date to new statement date. So utilization on old cards abt 3% on 4 or so cards out of 6.

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The score drop is probably attributable to the 63% utilization on the PenFed card.

[Anonymous]

Is it a Fico score drop?

[pdvandassociates]

Yeah. Those are the only scores i track. I subscribe to myfico

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@pdvandassociates wrote:
I transferred 21k. Limit 33500. So that is like 63%. I dont think all the other cards have fully reported though. The ones that did reported w the interest left over from due date to new statement date. So utilization on old cards abt 3% on 4 or so cards out of 6.

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Given the high utilization (above 49%) on a new card, your score drop is in-line with expected results. It certainly appears that a high utilization on a new account may influence score a bit more than if the account were well established. The score drop is temporary and nothing to be concerned about.

Nonetheless, I would recommend paying the balance down to below 49% to mitigate potential AA with other creditors longer term. The pay down may also regain half the points lost.