When do lenders/cc companies update your account balance?

[Anonymous]

I currently have a fico score of 728. I pay my balances in full each month, I never carry a balance. However, it is shown that I currently have a balance of about $800. So can anyone help me make sense of this: (Remember, even if you pay your credit cards in full each month, the balance shown on your credit report may not be $0. Instead, it will reflect your account balance at the time your lender supplied the update to the credit reporting agency.) How can I find out what day my credit cards report to the bureaus? Is there a generalization, like pay before the 2nd or 3rd week of the month to ensure you pay off the balance before they report it?

[haulingthescoreup]

Hi, tenseikenz, welcome to the forums!

Most, not all credit card companies report to the CRA's (credit bureaus) on the date that your statements drop, and they report the balance that's on your statement. So many of us pay down or off our cards 4-5 days before they report, thus controlling what reports.

HSBC and Orchard report at the end of the month, and they report what your balance is then. I think. AmEx seems to report on the statement date, but they report the previous month's balance.

[Anonymous]

thanks! So, say my statement/closing date is on the 25th of each month, if I were to pay off my card on the 18th of each month, my balance should be report as $0 correct? Also, having a balance of $0 would help me right? Or is it good to keep a little showing?

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:
thanks! So, say my statement/closing date is on the 25th of each month, if I were to pay off my card on the 18th of each month, my balance should be report as $0 correct? Also, having a balance of $0 would help me right? Or is it good to keep a little showing?

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As long as no extra charges sneak in, yes, you'll show a $0 balance. And at the same time, the CCC will acknowledge that you've used the card, so it will still report as being active.

Most of us have found that our scores do best when all but one or two cards report $0, and the one(s) that report show a tiny balance, less than 5%. This seems to indicate to the scoring formula that you know how to flirt with credit, using it but remaining in control. Several of us have lost points for having all cards report $0, but some have had a score increase. I think it was mostly those who already had high scores, long history, and not a lot of cards.

[Anonymous]

thank you for your replies! I'm going to come up with a schedule of when to pay my cards off each month so that they report $0 and check my credit score again in a couple of months. 760 will be mine...eventually!

[haulingthescoreup]

Just remember to let one report a $10 balance or something. GL

[RobertEG]

Good points.  Lendors/CCCs dont directly update your CR.  They report the data to the CRAs, and it is not until the CRA then updates their data that it will be reflected in your score.  One has no control over delays by a CRA in updating your CR.

FICO scores, however, are instantaneous.  Each time you get a credit score, it goes back and  looks anew at the current CR, so no delay there.  The key is getting it into your CR.