paid off credit card and score goes down 5 points?

[Anonymous]

whats the deal with this? i pay my balance off when i use the CC but there was a balance when they reported . So i had a balnace last month and paid off this month and score dropped ? ugh 

[Anonymous]

Could be due to a rise in utilization %

[Anonymous]

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@User987094 wrote:

whats the deal with this? i pay my balance off when i use the CC but there was a balance when they reported . So i had a balnace last month and paid off this month and score dropped ? ugh 

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If you went from the card reporting a statement balance last month to having no statement balance this month, and that's your only card, then going from 1-10% utilization to 0% utilization will drop your score. I know it sounds silly, but it's true.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't stress about 5 points, just keep using the card appropriately and it will help you in the long run.

[Anonymous]

I had the same happen to me but it was two cards. Both cards went from showing a balance to having no balance the next month.  Lost 5 points. 

[elim]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@User987094 wrote:

whats the deal with this? i pay my balance off when i use the CC but there was a balance when they reported . So i had a balnace last month and paid off this month and score dropped ? ugh 

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If you went from the card reporting a statement balance last month to having no statement balance this month, and that's your only card, then going from 1-10% utilization to 0% utilization will drop your score. I know it sounds silly, but it's true.

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  This ^

  A small balance on 1 card is worth more points (in Fico's eyes) than all cards reporting 0.  Strange, but true.

[Anonymous]

Losing 5 points for reporting all zero balances is actually a quite tame penalty.  Often people lose in the 15-20 point range for this, which is quickly gained back as soon as one card reports a small balance.