So funny watching scores go up and down from new accounts

[Anonymous]

So as a bunch of new accounts have slowly been reporting over the last 3-4 months it's been kind of strange/amusing watching my scores go up and down - ending up either at a net 0 change, or slightly higher than the previous month.

I had assumed from most people's experiences that new inquiries and subsequent accounts would end up putting a big dent in my scores, but they have pretty much stayed the same... after about 5-6 recent inquiries those stopped dropping it, and it seems that FICO likes certain accounts more than others. The Arrival+ dropped a couple scores by 2-3 points, but the NFCU CC raised it by 6-8 points on those bureaus, for example.

This is leading me to think that perhaps when people have just a net drop, maybe their file is pretty thin, or they haven't had any recent inquires or new accounts, so the sudden change has a greater negative score impact?

[righthererightnow]

...or a combined effect of things aging off (old inquires, bad accounts, etc) in the mix too. I've noticed that in my file, up and down and up.

[takeshi74]

Scores go up and down just from normal activity even if there aren't new accounts reporting.  You can't just assume that what others experience is what you will experience.  It's all a matter of your credit profile and how the changes factor in.  A change of X isn't necessarily going to have the same scoring impact for everyone or for the same timeframe.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

This is leading me to think that perhaps when people have just a net drop, maybe their file is pretty thin, or they haven't had any recent inquires or new accounts, so the sudden change has a greater negative score impact?

---

It's a matter of both.  Thin profiles, profile with issues and profiles with both are going to be much more volatile than thicker profiles in good standing.  The changes also matter.  It's certainly possible for a person with a thicker profile in good standing to see a net negative with enough negative impact.  Again, it's all about how everything adds up in the end.

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I had assumed from most people's experiences that new inquiries and subsequent accounts would end up putting a big dent in my scores, but they have pretty much stayed the same... after about 5-6 recent inquiries those stopped dropping it, and it seems that FICO likes certain accounts more than others. The Arrival+ dropped a couple scores by 2-3 points, but the NFCU CC raised it by 6-8 points on those bureaus, for example.

---

FICO doesn't care about the creditor or product.  It's the attributes of the trade line that matter.

Small changes such as what you mention aren't worth worrying over as normal activity will cause scores to change over a much larger range than 2-8 points so it's difficult to separate the change of the impact from the background noise.  If you're going to fixate on the numbers then set a higher threshold and make sure you're looking at report data to account for all changes versus just what you're assuming the changes to be.  Changes aren't just additions and deletions but aging and other things as well.

Better yet, focus on your report data.

[Anonymous]

That's true, I'm just talking about changes within a given month or short period. I keep utilization 1 to 3%, so the only other factor from what you pointed out (as far as I'm aware anyway) would be an additional month of age overall.

I guess my biggest surprise is that there has not been a real net drop adding a bunch of inquiries and new accounts in a short period of time. From seeing other posts here, I'd expected 20+ point drop across the board for at least the first 6 months or so.

[Grafton88]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

So as a bunch of new accounts have slowly been reporting over the last 3-4 months it's been kind of strange/amusing watching my scores go up and down - ending up either at a net 0 change, or slightly higher than the previous month.

I had assumed from most people's experiences that new inquiries and subsequent accounts would end up putting a big dent in my scores, but they have pretty much stayed the same... after about 5-6 recent inquiries those stopped dropping it, and it seems that FICO likes certain accounts more than others. The Arrival+ dropped a couple scores by 2-3 points, but the NFCU CC raised it by 6-8 points on those bureaus, for example.

This is leading me to think that perhaps when people have just a net drop, maybe their file is pretty thin, or they haven't had any recent inquires or new accounts, so the sudden change has a greater negative score impact?

---

I did a mini app spree last December.  I had a very thin file.  I got 3 new cards to add to the one I had.  My AAoA dropped to 2 months.  My scores dropped about 20-25 points.

Each month I watched my scores rise as my AAoA would increase.  I also saw huge increases as my Public Record dropped off of each agencies report.

Any changes to a thin file can either wreck havoc or can have a very positive effect.  That is why I tell people to keep their heads up.  That is also why I wish people would not app for so many cards when they first start out.  There are few benefits to having so many cards and it definately keeps their scores down.

[Anonymous]

Makes sense for sure. Over March and April this year my few baddies came off, which brought scores up from around 660-680 to 750-775 very quickly. After a bunch of inquiries and new accounts since then, they are currently zig zagging up and down, between 748-770. It's just funny how some accounts make the scores dip slightly, while other accounts make the scores rise slightly.