topic Re: Trying to understand in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Trying to understand

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:20:54 GMT

Hello everyone, I've read over the forum for the last 5 months but this is my first post.

So I have a total of 3 "in good standing" cc. Last reporting my 300 limit card went from 32%- 13% which caused an alert score change from 588-592.

Shortly afterwards I paid down another cc with 80% UTI down to 55% (1000 limit), alert for a balance drop but did not cause a score change. Is it possible for the score change to happen later or that's just it. I also noticed that my Amex Fico 8 had not updated as well.

Re: Trying to understand

AndySoCal — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 03:34:52 GMT

Was the updated balance showing on the credit report ?

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 10:26:03 GMT

It shows in the alert but when I clicked on accounts this am I noticed it still says 80% for all 3 CR. Thanks for replying

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:28:06 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
It shows in the alert but when I clicked on accounts this am I noticed it still says 80% for all 3 CR. Thanks for replying

Is the credit monitoring tool (CMT) you are using myFICO Ultimate? If so, you only get your reports update at most once per month (possibly only once every 90 days, depending on what package you have purchased).

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 13:30:45 GMT

If you are looking for practical guidance about what to do, your course is clear: work on paying off all CC debt. Allow one card to report a small balance and then see what your scores look like after that.

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:14:30 GMT

OP, it sounds like your 3 revolvers all have relatively low limits, so paying them off shouldn't be a daunting task. I'd not worry about your minor score changes right now from slight paydowns. Simply know that in taking 2 of your revolvers down to $0 balances and allowing the final one to report a small ($5-$10) balance will result in your greatest FICO score potential. Getting your revolving debt to that point will likely raise your scores significantly.

Re: Trying to understand

kxkxkxx — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 14:30:40 GMT

You are doing all of the right things....do not get too caught up in the small FICO score changes...sometimes they dont always go hand in hand and it will drive you nuts.

@brutalbodyshots is correct...work on paying off the majority of your CC debt but always allow 1 card to show a small balance...that will continously report back that your credit card utilization is low...which helps a lot.

Also, how many inquiries do you have on each report? Making sure those drop off is always a nice boost as well.

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:01:47 GMT

I'm using the monthly myFICO Ultimate.

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:04:24 GMT

Thanks, and I'm working on that for the next 3 months. Just was curious why going from $96 -$39 reporting balance on one card went up 4 pts; but $800-%$550 reporting on another card got nothing.

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 15:05:41 GMT

Two over the last 5 months

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2018 18:38:09 GMT

@AnonymousThanks, and I'm working on that for the next 3 months. Just was curious why going from $96 -$39 reporting balance on one card went up 4 pts; but $800-%$550 reporting on another card got nothing.

It's possible that the score gain you saw and the lack of score gain you saw weren't at all related to your received alerts. This is very common actually.

Score changes only happen when threshold points are crossed. If someone is just above a threshold point, a paydown of $50-$60 and having that report could cause them to drop below that threshold and thus see a score improvement. Conversely, if someone is far away from a threshold point, a more significant paydown of hundreds or even thousands of dollars (depending on their limits) could have absolutely no impact on score if it doesn't cause utilization to cross that next threshold.

Another factor to look at with your profile is what the highest individual utilization card is, as having one at 49%+ is going to impose a penalty. Again, it comes down to thresholds. The question here is what your highest utilization card was at before/after your paydown and of course whether or not that new paid down balance reported yet.

Re: Trying to understand

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 17:36:23 GMT

So I got score alerts last week I assuming from paying down my highest utilization to ~50% .

Trans went tup 7 points

Ex went up 6 points

eq- went up 14 points

Next I will pay off one of my charge offs currently sitting at 162% to see if it makes a difference.