topic Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost! in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:09:41 GMT

This morning, I received a notification from Experian regarding a score increase. Logged on to check it out, and my score jumped 25 points (from 627 to 652) due to Discover reporting my PIF balance mid-cycle. It was only a $350 balance so I'm pleasantly surprised by the sharp jump. This jump also gives me hope for a massive score increase once my U.S. Bank balance is updated on my reports. Sitting at 652 with a reported 53% revolving utilization, but once Cash+ balance updates total Util will be ~3%.

Hoping to get approved for my first Amex this month. Hopefully this increase will help!

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

19eighty5 — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:31:51 GMT

Congrats on the score jump! Did you do anything to your account to trigger the mid-cycle update?

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 15:43:22 GMT

@19eighty5 wrote:
Congrats on the score jump! Did you do anything to your account to trigger the mid-cycle update?

Thanks! I know that U.S. Bank always reports at the end of the month, so I spoke with a Discover agent and asked them to update mid-cycle. Since I'm planning to complete an app or two in the coming days, my goal was to have any potential score boost hit my reports within a shorter period of time.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 16:24:54 GMT

@Batsamandrobin wrote:
This morning, I received a notification from Experian regarding a score increase. Logged on to check it out, and my score jumped 25 points (from 627 to 652) due to Discover reporting my PIF balance mid-cycle. It was only a $350 balance so I'm pleasantly surprised by the sharp jump. This jump also gives me hope for a massive score increase once my U.S. Bank balance is updated on my reports. Sitting at 652 with a reported 53% revolving utilization, but once Cash+ balance updates total Util will be ~3%.

Hoping to get approved for my first Amex this month. Hopefully this increase will help!

First, congratulations on the score increase.

Second, can you be a bit more specific regarding the details of your balances/utilization? You said Discover reported your "PIF balance" which was $350. A few things need clarification here. Was the $350 the total balance on the card, meaning you paid it to $0 and Discover reported $0, or was the statement balance $350 (and perhaps your current balance greater) so you paid down the $350 leaving a non-zero balance that was reported? The credit limit on this card is crucial here as well. Basically what I'm looking for was your balance/limit on your Discover card as it was reported prior to your mid-cycle reporting request, then your balance/limit post-mid-cycle reporting.

The 53% utilization that you reference, I'm not sure what that represents. It could be your aggregate utilization post-Discover paydown... it could be an individual card utilization, etc. I just want to clarify on that. What was your Cash+ balance/limit before/after that paydown that will report? Are these your only 2 CCs? If there are others, it would be beneficial knowing the data on them as well. Based on what you report back with, it would be much easier for us to ballpark your next potential score gain in knowing the exact cause (from FICOs eyes) of your recent score gain.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 17:28:02 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Batsamandrobin wrote:
This morning, I received a notification from Experian regarding a score increase. Logged on to check it out, and my score jumped 25 points (from 627 to 652) due to Discover reporting my PIF balance mid-cycle. It was only a $350 balance so I'm pleasantly surprised by the sharp jump. This jump also gives me hope for a massive score increase once my U.S. Bank balance is updated on my reports. Sitting at 652 with a reported 53% revolving utilization, but once Cash+ balance updates total Util will be ~3%.

Hoping to get approved for my first Amex this month. Hopefully this increase will help!
First, congratulations on the score increase.

Second, can you be a bit more specific regarding the details of your balances/utilization? You said Discover reported your "PIF balance" which was $350. A few things need clarification here. Was the $350 the total balance on the card, meaning you paid it to $0 and Discover reported $0, or was the statement balance $350 (and perhaps your current balance greater) so you paid down the $350 leaving a non-zero balance that was reported? The credit limit on this card is crucial here as well. Basically what I'm looking for was your balance/limit on your Discover card as it was reported prior to your mid-cycle reporting request, then your balance/limit post-mid-cycle reporting.

The 53% utilization that you reference, I'm not sure what that represents. It could be your aggregate utilization post-Discover paydown... it could be an individual card utilization, etc. I just want to clarify on that. What was your Cash+ balance/limit before/after that paydown that will report? Are these your only 2 CCs? If there are others, it would be beneficial knowing the data on them as well. Based on what you report back with, it would be much easier for us to ballpark your next potential score gain in knowing the exact cause (from FICOs eyes) of your recent score gain.

Thank you for your reply! To try and clarify based on some of your questions, the $350 Discover balance was the reported balance as of the last statement cut. I only have a $500 limit on that card, so I assume the fact that card went from 70% Util to 0 is mostly responsible for the score increase.

The 53% utilization represents my currently reported overall utilization, including the changes with Discover reporting at $0. The balance on my Cash+ was at $7200/7500 (so maxed out) at the end of last month, but the updated balance that will report this month is $350/7500. I have a few other cards of my own, which all currently sit at $0, and am an AU on another card that reports a high balance. I have asked the cardholder to remove me as an AU on that card because I never use it and it's hurting my scores. The AU card only shows on EQ for some reason. Total balances relative to total limits on this month's report will be $350/13700. No late payments, baddies, etc.

Currents scores:

EQ: 608 (again, this is the one that report AU account, which I believe explains why it's lower than others by wider margin).

EX: 652

TU: 665

Experian is the only bureau to update so far today, so others scores are based on last month's report.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 20:11:09 GMT

Interesting. Based on the data you provided, I'm actually surprised that you saw such a score gain. The 3 factors that can impact score in your situation in order of importance are aggregate utilization, highest individual card utilization and number/percentage of cards with balances reported.

In your situation, paying down that low limit card ($500) balance of $350 didn't impact the first/biggest factor much at all and definitely not across a threshold (upper 50s to 52% aggregate). The second factor also didn't change, as your highest utilization card is still your other (maxed out) one, even though you paid a 70% card down to 0%. What did change was your number/percentage of cards with a balance which went from 2 to 1 and 100% to 50%. I wouldn't think that factor would matter more than 5-10 points though, not 25.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Fri, 01 Jun 2018 20:15:15 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Interesting. Based on the data you provided, I'm actually surprised that you saw such a score gain. The 3 factors that can impact score in your situation in order of importance are aggregate utilization, highest individual card utilization and number/percentage of cards with balances reported.

In your situation, paying down that low limit card ($500) balance of $350 didn't impact the first/biggest factor much at all and definitely not across a threshold (upper 50s to 52% aggregate). The second factor also didn't change, as your highest utilization card is still your other (maxed out) one, even though you paid a 70% card down to 0%. What did change was your number/percentage of cards with a balance which went from 2 to 1 and 100% to 50%. I wouldn't think that factor would matter more than 5-10 points though, not 25.

I was equally surprised at the gain. Hopeful that I can jump to somewhere around 700 once the updated U.S. Bank balance reports (hopefully it will reflect by early next week) and that card goes from maxed out to <8.9%.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 17:06:19 GMT

Update: received a 23 point boost on EQ.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

NRB525 — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 20:30:43 GMT

OP do you have any lates of any kind on your reports?

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Sun, 03 Jun 2018 02:58:00 GMT

@NRB525 wrote:
OP do you have any lates of any kind on your reports?

No lates/baddies/derogatory marks of any kind.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

pamon — Mon, 04 Jun 2018 04:51:57 GMT

Nice boost working on it myself

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 16:11:54 GMT

Congrats Batsamandrobin!

I'm not surprised as I'm kinda in the same boat. Had horrible utilization across 2 cards at the beginning of year and then accidentally missed a payment. Started at 583 (89% util) on Feb 28. Now I'm 674 (47% util) as of 05/30. Those are FICO8 EX scores/data.

Hopefully you'll get in with AMEX. That's who I was late on (ugh, as i only owed them $30 at that time) and I love being a member so I won't be doing that again!

Keep up the great work!

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 23:37:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Congrats Batsamandrobin!

I'm not surprised as I'm kinda in the same boat. Had horrible utilization across 2 cards at the beginning of year and then accidentally missed a payment. Started at 583 (89% util) on Feb 28. Now I'm 674 (47% util) as of 05/30. Those are FICO8 EX scores/data.

Hopefully you'll get in with AMEX. That's who I was late on (ugh, as i only owed them $30 at that time) and I love being a member so I won't be doing that again!

Keep up the great work!

Your success gives me confidence. Still waiting on this month's reports to reflect the decrease in my U.S. Bank utilization before I apply. I know it can sometimes take a week or two, but I'm getting a little impatient lol.

Out of curiosity, which Amex card so you have? And what were your scores when you applied?

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:27:52 GMT

I have the Green (which I hope to dump as soon as my scores get closer to 700 for a ED and Delta Skymiles - oh, and soon as AMEX forgives me for that late).

They sent me an invite and I don't recall even looking at my scores while rushing to accept. But I remember I had zero CC inqs, 2 small revolvers (no lates), a recent Chase auto loan (633 auto score at time of loan but I don't recall which bureau) because of a 3 year old FC at the time. Yes, they reached out while I was rebuilding my credit in 2011. Hope that helps.

Re: Surprising 25 Pt. Experian Boost!

Batsamandrobin — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 04:50:39 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I have the Green (which I hope to dump as soon as my scores get closer to 700 for a ED and Delta Skymiles - oh, and soon as AMEX forgives me for that late).

They sent me an invite and I don't recall even looking at my scores while rushing to accept. But I remember I had zero CC inqs, 2 small revolvers (no lates), a recent Chase auto loan (633 auto score at time of loan but I don't recall which bureau) because of a 3 year old FC at the time. Yes, they reached out while I was rebuilding my credit in 2011. Hope that helps.

The Delta Amex is on my list too. Aiming for the gold to start, but I live in a hub city and use Delta frequently enough that the platinum would probably be beneficial to me down the road.