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"You have too many credit accounts with balances."

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Anonymous
Not applicable

"You have too many credit accounts with balances."

I get the above message every month when Walmart emails me a free myFICO score update.  My question is since I have only been using one credit card for months now, why is this even a consideration?  MyFICO describes it as a "key factor affecting my credit score".

Message 1 of 16
15 REPLIES 15
Calistal
Regular Contributor

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."

Do you have only the one credit card, or do you mean you have several, but only use one of them?  

Starting Scores : EQ: 593 // TU: 571 // EX: 595 ~~5/2023 : TU: 823 // EX: 831 // EQ: 838
TCLs: 144k
Message 2 of 16
_NERD
Established Contributor

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."

My CLI denial letters any that too, but I have several TLs. DW has one account under her name (BofA), and on our mtg CR one of the factors listed on two of her trifecta scores is "too many credit accounts with a balance". It's my understanding that trifecta scores don't factor in AU accounts.

It might apply to people with only one account, too.

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Message 3 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@Calistal wrote:

Do you have only the one credit card, or do you mean you have several, but only use one of them?  



I have several credit cards but only use one.

Message 4 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@_NERD wrote:
My CLI denial letters any that too, but I have several TLs. DW has one account under her name (BofA), and on our mtg CR one of the factors listed on two of her trifecta scores is "too many credit accounts with a balance". It's my understanding that trifecta scores don't factor in AU accounts.

It might apply to people with only one account, too.


Sorry I could not understand the technical language in your post.

Message 5 of 16
_NERD
Established Contributor

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."

CLI: credit limit increase
DW: dear wife
BofA: Bank of America
mgt: mortgage
CR: credit report
trifecta: the 3 mortgage credit scores
AU: authorized user

I didn't realize you're a new visitor. Welcome to the FICO forums & thank you for being a part of our community! Here's a post containing a list of abbreviations we use here in this community

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458

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Message 6 of 16
Calistal
Regular Contributor

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@Anonymous wrote:

@Calistal wrote:

Do you have only the one credit card, or do you mean you have several, but only use one of them?  



I have several credit cards but only use one.


Hm, I'm not sure then. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in?  The only thing I could think of is if you only have 2 or 3 cards, then if you have 1 card with a balance, then it's between 50% of cards have balance and 33% of cards have a balance, which is a pretty high percentage either way.  But I'm not sure if that's how they calculate it at all, so I'm probably not being especially helpful. 

 

Hopefully someone else can help more clearly. 

Starting Scores : EQ: 593 // TU: 571 // EX: 595 ~~5/2023 : TU: 823 // EX: 831 // EQ: 838
TCLs: 144k
Message 7 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@_NERD wrote:
CLI: credit limit increase
DW: dear wife
BofA: Bank of America
mgt: mortgage
CR: credit report
trifecta: the 3 mortgage credit scores
AU: authorized user

I didn't realize you're a new visitor. Welcome to the FICO forums & thank you for being a part of our community! Here's a post containing a list of abbreviations we use here in this community

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/td-p/88458

Thanks for the translations and welcome.  In my case, there are no other authorized users and no mortgage/car/installment loans.  Just a CapOne card in my wallet.  I called myFICO this morning and they won't speak w/me because I don't have an "account" with them but they referred me to a toll free number to Walmart's myFICO team.  Of course, when I called,  Walmart said no such department exists.

Message 8 of 16
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@Calistal wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:

@Calistal wrote:

Do you have only the one credit card, or do you mean you have several, but only use one of them?  



I have several credit cards but only use one.


Hm, I'm not sure then. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in?  The only thing I could think of is if you only have 2 or 3 cards, then if you have 1 card with a balance, then it's between 50% of cards have balance and 33% of cards have a balance, which is a pretty high percentage either way.  But I'm not sure if that's how they calculate it at all, so I'm probably not being especially helpful. 

 

Hopefully someone else can help more clearly. 


Thanks but not likely.  I have lots of cards (10 +) and many of those have high credit limits.  So it's not a "utilization" issue.

Message 9 of 16
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: "You have too many credit accounts with balances."


@Anonymous wrote:

I get the above message every month when Walmart emails me a free myFICO score update.  My question is since I have only been using one credit card for months now, why is this even a consideration?  MyFICO describes it as a "key factor affecting my credit score".


It's FICO language. Whenever your score's less than 800 they throw in the most positive of your positive factors, and the most negative of your negative factors even if they're not really that negative.

 

In this case I'm guessing that Synchrony's just using an old credit report which hasn't been updated yet. Soft pull FICO's are often way out of date. It might be from 3 or 4 months ago.

 

 


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 10 of 16
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