topic Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help? in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 19:23:32 GMT

Hello, something strange has been happening with my scores lately. I made a post about this previously when it first started, but since then more strange activity has occured and I figured that I'd share it with you all, and perhaps get an idea of what happened. I have bolded the important parts for faster reading ^^.

It all started last Monday: I checked my Experian score through their website, and it showed an 11 point drop. This drop wasn't associated with any new negatives on my account, and the only thing that changed was that a few of my credit cards, most of which normally report a zero balance (I use, then pay off before report date - so they are not inactive), again reported a zero balance recently. Specifically, my Amazon Chase card changed its balance from $122 to $0. That was the only change reported that day, and the score dropped by 11 points.

The strange part is that, the very next day, the score went back up by exactly 11 points. This time, there was no explanation and no change in the report - just a score increase. I was baffled, but I let it go.

Then, a few days later, TU also reported a score change - an 11 point drop, just like EX. This one came from myFico, and also came at the same time that the Chase card updated to a zero balance from $122 - this probably happened on the same day that the EX score changed, but only appeared on myFico a few days later. For what its worth, the EX fluctuation did not appear on myFico. The very next day, just like EX, the TU score went back up by exactly 11 points - again, with no explanation at all. My EX and TU scores are not the same (TU score 20 points higher), so the fact that they would change by the exact same amount is bizarre.

This time, I did call TU and myFico, but no one could help me - TU refused to give any information, and the myFico rep was nice but all but useless, I'm sorry to say. I could not reach EX.

Equifax updated the very next day, but did not show the same point fluctuation. It showed the same Chase card update, but the score increased by 1 point and stayed there.

That was last week - fast forward to this morning and, low and behold, the EX score dropped again by exactly 11 points. This time something else strange happened: one of my other cards, the eBay Extras Mastercard, updated more than a week prior and showed a $2 balance instead of the planned zero balance - it appeared to report to EX a few days earlier than it normally does, and so my pay-before-report timing was off - i attributed this to the holidays. Today, that balance changed to zero - which is strange because, as I check the accout now, it does not have a zero balance ($10), and I'm not sure if it ever did between its last update and now... not to mention, it already reported this month. Again, I'm baffled.

I will update you all tomorrow if the score goes back up, but the only correlation I can find between these fluctuations is a credit card reporting a zero balance and somehow being accompanied by a drop in score - again, used, but paid off in full, so inactivity is not the answer here. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I am stumped, and it seems like the reps I spoke to were as well.

Here are some details about my credit:

6 credit/retail cards, 5/6 report zero balance monthly

3% credit utilization

11 total accounts

1 account (student loan) recently paid off, reported to CRAs a week before fluctuations, AAoA not changed, score not changed when reported

AAoA: 2 years, 5 m

Gardening - no inquiries since June

No new late payments

Sorry for the wall of text; hope you all have fun with this one happy holidays!

Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

SouthJamaica — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 20:09:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, something strange has been happening with my scores lately. I made a post about this previously when it first started, but since then more strange activity has occured and I figured that I'd share it with you all, and perhaps get an idea of what happened. I have bolded the important parts for faster reading ^^.

It all started last Monday: I checked my Experian score through their website, and it showed an 11 point drop. This drop wasn't associated with any new negatives on my account, and the only thing that changed was that a few of my credit cards, most of which normally report a zero balance (I use, then pay off before report date - so they are not inactive), again reported a zero balance recently. Specifically, my Amazon Chase card changed its balance from $122 to $0. That was the only change reported that day, and the score dropped by 11 points.

The strange part is that, the very next day, the score went back up by exactly 11 points. This time, there was no explanation and no change in the report - just a score increase. I was baffled, but I let it go.

Then, a few days later, TU also reported a score change - an 11 point drop, just like EX. This one came from myFico, and also came at the same time that the Chase card updated to a zero balance from $122 - this probably happened on the same day that the EX score changed, but only appeared on myFico a few days later. For what its worth, the EX fluctuation did not appear on myFico. The very next day, just like EX, the TU score went back up by exactly 11 points - again, with no explanation at all. My EX and TU scores are not the same (TU score 20 points higher), so the fact that they would change by the exact same amount is bizarre.

This time, I did call TU and myFico, but no one could help me - TU refused to give any information, and the myFico rep was nice but all but useless, I'm sorry to say. I could not reach EX.

Equifax updated the very next day, but did not show the same point fluctuation. It showed the same Chase card update, but the score increased by 1 point and stayed there.

That was last week - fast forward to this morning and, low and behold, the EX score dropped again by exactly 11 points. This time something else strange happened: one of my other cards, the eBay Extras Mastercard, updated more than a week prior and showed a $2 balance instead of the planned zero balance - it appeared to report to EX a few days earlier than it normally does, and so my pay-before-report timing was off - i attributed this to the holidays. Today, that balance changed to zero - which is strange because, as I check the accout now, it does not have a zero balance ($10), and I'm not sure if it ever did between its last update and now... not to mention, it already reported this month. Again, I'm baffled.

I will update you all tomorrow if the score goes back up, but the only correlation I can find between these fluctuations is a credit card reporting a zero balance and somehow being accompanied by a drop in score - again, used, but paid off in full, so inactivity is not the answer here. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I am stumped, and it seems like the reps I spoke to were as well.

Here are some details about my credit:
6 credit/retail cards, 5/6 report zero balance monthly
3% credit utilization
11 total accounts
1 account (student loan) recently paid off, reported to CRAs a week before fluctuations, AAoA not changed, score not changed when reported
AAoA: 2 years, 5 m
Gardening - no inquiries since June
No new late payments

Sorry for the wall of text; hope you all have fun with this one happy holidays!

Perhaps you had all cards reporting a zero balance at some point; that would do it.

With Chase it's easy for that to happen, even if you didn't plan on it, because they will report a zero balance immediately in the middle of the cycle.

Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2018 20:34:58 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hello, something strange has been happening with my scores lately. I made a post about this previously when it first started, but since then more strange activity has occured and I figured that I'd share it with you all, and perhaps get an idea of what happened. I have bolded the important parts for faster reading ^^.

It all started last Monday: I checked my Experian score through their website, and it showed an 11 point drop. This drop wasn't associated with any new negatives on my account, and the only thing that changed was that a few of my credit cards, most of which normally report a zero balance (I use, then pay off before report date - so they are not inactive), again reported a zero balance recently. Specifically, my Amazon Chase card changed its balance from $122 to $0. That was the only change reported that day, and the score dropped by 11 points.

The strange part is that, the very next day, the score went back up by exactly 11 points. This time, there was no explanation and no change in the report - just a score increase. I was baffled, but I let it go.

Then, a few days later, TU also reported a score change - an 11 point drop, just like EX. This one came from myFico, and also came at the same time that the Chase card updated to a zero balance from $122 - this probably happened on the same day that the EX score changed, but only appeared on myFico a few days later. For what its worth, the EX fluctuation did not appear on myFico. The very next day, just like EX, the TU score went back up by exactly 11 points - again, with no explanation at all. My EX and TU scores are not the same (TU score 20 points higher), so the fact that they would change by the exact same amount is bizarre.

This time, I did call TU and myFico, but no one could help me - TU refused to give any information, and the myFico rep was nice but all but useless, I'm sorry to say. I could not reach EX.

Equifax updated the very next day, but did not show the same point fluctuation. It showed the same Chase card update, but the score increased by 1 point and stayed there.

That was last week - fast forward to this morning and, low and behold, the EX score dropped again by exactly 11 points. This time something else strange happened: one of my other cards, the eBay Extras Mastercard, updated more than a week prior and showed a $2 balance instead of the planned zero balance - it appeared to report to EX a few days earlier than it normally does, and so my pay-before-report timing was off - i attributed this to the holidays. Today, that balance changed to zero - which is strange because, as I check the accout now, it does not have a zero balance ($10), and I'm not sure if it ever did between its last update and now... not to mention, it already reported this month. Again, I'm baffled.

I will update you all tomorrow if the score goes back up, but the only correlation I can find between these fluctuations is a credit card reporting a zero balance and somehow being accompanied by a drop in score - again, used, but paid off in full, so inactivity is not the answer here. Does anyone have any ideas about this? I am stumped, and it seems like the reps I spoke to were as well.

Here are some details about my credit:
6 credit/retail cards, 5/6 report zero balance monthly
3% credit utilization
11 total accounts
1 account (student loan) recently paid off, reported to CRAs a week before fluctuations, AAoA not changed, score not changed when reported
AAoA: 2 years, 5 m
Gardening - no inquiries since June
No new late payments

Sorry for the wall of text; hope you all have fun with this one happy holidays!
Perhaps you had all cards reporting a zero balance at some point; that would do it.

With Chase it's easy for that to happen, even if you didn't plan on it, because they will report a zero balance immediately in the middle of the cycle.

The myFico rep mentioned that might be the case, but for me, that's really not possible. One of my revolving accounts has a 0% APR promotional purchase on it, and I renew it every year so that I am always making monthly payments into it. That account has literally never had a zero balance since I got it - so that way at least one of the revolving accounts has a balance at all times.

That card is a retail card, though, so it's not an actual credit card. I am not sure if FICO measures it in this way, but if they draw a distinction between credit cards and retail cards, then yes - all of my credit cards would have a zero balance, at least right now.

But that wasn't the case last week - when the Chase card reported, the eBay card still had a balance. So they weren't all zero. Yet, the score still dropped, and then went back up. Bizarre.

Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

HeavenOhio — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 14:01:08 GMT

A handful of us, myself included, have reported a slight score drop if a retail card is the only card with a positive balance. It's not the same as the larger drop that would be expected if all cards reported zero. I think I lost about four points.

However, in my case, the drop only occurred on one bureau (Experian). Points were restored when a major card reported a positive balance.

Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 17:51:44 GMT

Wow, and so it seems like that might be it. That's crazy - an 11 point drop because I paid off an extra credit card this month... can't say that I saw that coming, haha. Well, my next credit card doesn't report for a good 3 weeks, so I guess I'm stuck with this score for now.

Still, I'm wondering why that particular card decided to report twice this month...

Re: Strange Point Fluctuations - Help?

Pikaboo-icu — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 21:40:49 GMT

As HeavenOhio posted, it happened to me.

I accidentally paid all of my cards to zero except my Amazon Prime store card and I lost points across the CBs, one was 13-14 IIRC.

Lesson is: Always allow a small balance to report on at least one Visa/MC/Amex etc.. Not just a store card.

Happy New Year