topic Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!! in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:08:45 GMT

So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

JoeRockhead — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:16:52 GMT

653 would be considered fair credit. Getting your UTI down to 5% will be great, financially, and for your scores... But, I don't see you gaining 47 points from it... It will update next time your statement closes and reports to each CRA. Your scores will be recalculated then.

Nice job so far.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 22:27:13 GMT

@JoeRockhead wrote:
653 would be considered fair credit. Getting your UTI down to 5% will be great, financially, and for your scores... But, I don't see you gaining 47 points from it... It will update next time your statement closes and reports to each CRA. Your scores will be recalculated then.

Nice job so far.

Thx for your reply! I know what I am about to use as an example is Vantage 3.0 not FICO8 but my Vantage 3.0 score was 683 when I had a 5% credit utiliization in mid February. Once the $1164 PP Credit balance appeared on my credit reports my Vantage 3.0 score went down to 619. So it was a huge drop from 5% util to 49% util.

So I'm hoping my FICO score would rise a lot when my cred util drops to 5%. Maybe it could get to 700?

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

SouthJamaica — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 23:00:21 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!

1. I don't know what "PayPal Credit" means, or how it reports. If it reports like a revolving credit card, then it will probably report only the balance showing when the statement cuts, and will probably report within a few days after the statement cuts.

2. The Capital One card reports the statement balance. It will probably appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. If you pay it down before the statement cuts, it will report whatever is left. If zero is left, it will report zero.

3. The Chase Freedom card reports the statement balance, and it will appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. However, Chase does something else, which is unusual -- if you pay the balance down to zero in the middle of a cycle, they will again report to the bureaus that you have a zero balance. So it may report to the bureaus several times during the same cycle.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 23:01:11 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!
1. I don't know what "PayPal Credit" means, or how it reports.
2. The Capital One card reports the statement balance. It will probably appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. If you pay it down before the statement cuts, it will report whatever is left. If zero is left, it will report zero.
3. The Chase Freedom card reports the statement balance, and it will appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. However, Chase does something else, which is unusual -- if you pay the balance down to zero in the middle of a cycle, they will again report to the bureaus that you have a zero balance.

PayPal Credit reports to the bureaus just like a credit card. It's a credit line that I can use on PayPal. I'm hoping when that shows a $0 balance when I pay the $1164 off my FICO8 score will go up a lot. At least to 700. Going from a 49% credit util to a 5% util should help my score greatly hopefully.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

SouthJamaica — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 23:02:08 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!
1. I don't know what "PayPal Credit" means, or how it reports.
2. The Capital One card reports the statement balance. It will probably appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. If you pay it down before the statement cuts, it will report whatever is left. If zero is left, it will report zero.
3. The Chase Freedom card reports the statement balance, and it will appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. However, Chase does something else, which is unusual -- if you pay the balance down to zero in the middle of a cycle, they will again report to the bureaus that you have a zero balance.
PayPal Credit reports to the bureaus just like a credit card. It's a credit line that I can use on PayPal. I'm hoping when that shows a $0 balance when I pay the $1164 off my FICO8 score will go up a lot. At least to 700. Going from a 49% credit util to a 5% util should help my score greatly hopefully.

Yes, probably it will help your score significantly.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Junejer — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 13:49:00 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!

Congrats on getting a FICO score @MikeyMagic. That PayPal card is effectively maxed at that util percentage. I don't have a crystal ball, but it wouldn't surprise me if you hit 700 when it reports a $0 balance, all other accounts remaining the same. You'll give yourself a better chance at 700 if that Chase card reports around 5% versus the current 13%. Good luck!

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Horseshoez — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 15:12:28 GMT

And yet another congratulations @MikeyMagic for getting a FICO score, I agree with other posters, dropping your utilization will help your scores but not enough to get you anywhere near a 700 for FICO 8. Regarding your Vantage scores, just consider them a mirage.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

CorpCrMgr1 — Sat, 02 Mar 2024 18:32:05 GMT

Like others have posted paying down your accounts should significantly raise your score. Other factors will also determine your future score. Good luck!

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Thomas_Thumb — Sun, 03 Mar 2024 04:40:03 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!

A Fico score of 653 is not good. As a minimum you need to get above 660. More preferrably get score above 720 for better interest rates on loans.

You are losing 50 to 65 points due to the PayPal revolving account at 97% utilization (20- 30 point impact), overall utilization at 49% (25-30 point loss) and 5 point loss for too many revolving accounts reporting balances.

I think you could get to a 700 score by optimizing revolving utilization and reporting a balance on only 1 revolving account. You will also get a significant score boost when your youngest account reaches 12 months age.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 06:01:12 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!
A Fico score of 653 is not good. As a minimum you need to get above 660. More preferrably get score above 720 for better interest rates on loans.

You are losing 50 to 65 points due to the PayPal revolving account at 97% utilization (20- 30 point impact), overall utilization at 49% (25-30 point loss) and 5 point loss for too many revolving accounts reporting balances.

I think you could get to a 700 score by optimizing revolving utilization and reporting a balance on only 1 revolving account. You will also get a significant score boost when your youngest account reaches 12 months age.

Thanks to you and all the others who have given me great advice and knowledge about this.

I will fill you all in once I pay the $1164 off this week and only have a 2-5% credit utilization instead of 46-49%. I'm curious as heck to see how much my FICO 8 score goes up lol.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Mon, 04 Mar 2024 17:27:32 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
So my first FICO Score just came out on Experian and it is 653.

But here's the thing, my credit utilization percentage is 49% mainly from my PayPal Credit where I owe $1164 out of $1200. It also shows my Chase Freedom Rise Card shows a $65 balance out of a $500 CL, and I allowed an $85 balance to show on my Capital One Quicksilver out of a $300 CL.

Is 653 really bad?

Next question, I plan to pay off the $1164 in full this week. My total credit lines from all my accounts is $2700. Once the updated balance on my credit reports shows $0 for my PP Credit, my credit utilization% will be 5%, not 49%. Will this significantly raise my FICO8 score to over 700? Does the FICO8 score update immediately once the util% drops on my credit reports?

Any help would be appreciated thanks so much!
1. I don't know what "PayPal Credit" means, or how it reports.
2. The Capital One card reports the statement balance. It will probably appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. If you pay it down before the statement cuts, it will report whatever is left. If zero is left, it will report zero.
3. The Chase Freedom card reports the statement balance, and it will appear in your reports a few days after the statement cut. However, Chase does something else, which is unusual -- if you pay the balance down to zero in the middle of a cycle, they will again report to the bureaus that you have a zero balance.
PayPal Credit reports to the bureaus just like a credit card. It's a credit line that I can use on PayPal. I'm hoping when that shows a $0 balance when I pay the $1164 off my FICO8 score will go up a lot. At least to 700. Going from a 49% credit util to a 5% util should help my score greatly hopefully.
Yes, probably it will help your score significantly.

This is fascinating, I made a $400 payment last week to bring my PP Credit balance down to $764 from $1164. My credit utilization is now 31% instead of 49% and my Experian FICO 8 score went up 46 points!!

My FICO 8 score is now 699!! I am shocked it went up that much without paying the full balance off. This week I'm gonna pay the $764 off in full, so now I'm thinking my FICO 8 score might get to 750 right?

I'm happy because I hated my FICO 8 score being 653. Utilization really does make a huge difference wow.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Junejer — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 01:40:19 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:
This is fascinating, I made a $400 payment last week to bring my PP Credit balance down to $764 from $1164. My credit utilization is now 31% instead of 49% and my Experian FICO 8 score went up 46 points!!

My FICO 8 score is now 699!! I am shocked it went up that much without paying the full balance off. This week I'm gonna pay the $764 off in full, so now I'm thinking my FICO 8 score might get to 750 right?

I'm happy because I hated my FICO 8 score being 653. Utilization really does make a huge difference wow.

Very nice. Congratulations, @MikeyMagic! I would be a bit surprised if it hit 750 at this point. I'd guess another 20 or so?

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Tue, 05 Mar 2024 02:50:07 GMT

@Junejer wrote:
@MikeyMagic wrote:
This is fascinating, I made a $400 payment last week to bring my PP Credit balance down to $764 from $1164. My credit utilization is now 31% instead of 49% and my Experian FICO 8 score went up 46 points!!

My FICO 8 score is now 699!! I am shocked it went up that much without paying the full balance off. This week I'm gonna pay the $764 off in full, so now I'm thinking my FICO 8 score might get to 750 right?

I'm happy because I hated my FICO 8 score being 653. Utilization really does make a huge difference wow.
Very nice. Congratulations, @MikeyMagic! I would be a bit surprised if it hit 750 at this point. I'd guess another 20 or so?

Yeah you're probably right. But hey even 20 points more and I'll be really stoked!!

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

FicoMike0 — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 23:02:49 GMT

Whatever works for you, keep it up! Good job.

I think the big thing is, don't get any baddies. Like every thing else in life, one aws&!t cancels a thousand attaboys.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Thomas_Thumb — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 00:09:55 GMT

@MikeyMagic wrote:

This is fascinating, I made a $400 payment last week to bring my PP Credit balance down to $764 from $1164. My credit utilization is now 31% instead of 49% and my Experian FICO 8 score went up 46 points!!

My FICO 8 score is now 699!! I am shocked it went up that much without paying the full balance off. This week I'm gonna pay the $764 off in full, so now I'm thinking my FICO 8 score might get to 750 right?

I'm happy because I hated my FICO 8 score being 653. Utilization really does make a huge difference wow

No, your score wiil not increase to 750. You likely have 20 points left to gain, 25 points max. So, 720 is a possibility and that would be a good score - particularly for a young file.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

AC20 — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 08:44:09 GMT

@MikeyMagic Wow great increase for moving a lot further away from 100% utilization on that paypal credit account. Fantastic. Not sure how new you are to learning about FICO scoring. Just wanted to throw this in - you will be penalized if you get to a point where all of your cards are reporting a $0 balance. So you want at least one card reporting a small balance. I just had all of my cards reporting $0 accidentally and I lost 21 points on TU and 23 on EX (going by memory but I think that is right). I think the sweet spot for you would be to have only one of your cards reporting a balance that is less than 10% of your credit limit for that card. Keep up the great work!

Community - If I am wrong here or giving bad advice please correct me!

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Horseshoez — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 14:04:20 GMT

@AC20 wrote:

Community - If I am wrong here or giving bad advice please correct me!

You are correct; I unwittingly hit All-Zero a couple weeks back and then this week one of my cards reported a small balance; this is what my FICO 8 graph looks like today:

Basically all of my lost points came back plus an extra spurious point on Equifax.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

Thomas_Thumb — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:03:12 GMT

I believe the OP reported having 3 revolving accounts with balances. So, paying down the high balance PayPal accouny to $0 won't trigger an all zero penalty.

Re: Got my 1st FICO Score today!!

MikeyMagic — Sat, 23 Mar 2024 19:25:17 GMT

@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
I believe the OP reported having 3 revolving accounts with balances. So, paying down the high balance PayPal accouny to $0 won't trigger an all zero penalty.

My PayPal Credit balance will be $0 as of 3/24 and I checked with Synchrony and they will do an offcycle report if requested as long as the balance is $0. So the only balance that will show on my credit reports by middle of the week will be from my Chase Freedom Rise, about $60.

So my overall credit utilization at that point will be 2%.

I'll let you all know what my FICO 8 score shows at that time because I am really curious.

It probably won't be 750 but I'll definitely be happy with 720!!