topic Re: I heard through the grapevine... in General Credit Topics

I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:03:13 GMT

...That if you charge up a large balance on a credit card and quickly pay it down to almost zero $$, your score will jump up many points. Is this true? I think it might be sort of true, because one month I got about 20 points because scorewatch said "you've demonstrated use of a credit card"

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

chartley3 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:11:43 GMT

I dont know how true that is. I usually PIF my CC each month but never see a huge jump on the FICO's.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:28:42 GMT

I'm talking about racking up a larger then normal balance though--and paying it down ALMOST all the way

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:35:53 GMT

Well, This is what happened to me. I had a $900 balance on my CC that had a $1000 CL and just paid off $700 and my score went up. That was the only change I have had so I am assuming it was from paying it down.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

chartley3 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:40:59 GMT

I will have to give that a try with my one CC.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:46:16 GMT

I am thinking about putting $1500 on a $2k CL credit card and paying it off the following month...Lets hope that I get a decent score jump.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:48:30 GMT

yes I will experiment as well. I have a card with no balance right now and I plan on racking up a few hundred dollars this month on it, then paying it off to very low just before the closing date. I did this 2 months ago and the score went up substancially.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Takunda1 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:17:54 GMT

rifleman wrote:
...That if you charge up a large balance on a credit card and quickly pay it down to almost zero $$, your score will jump up many points. Is this true? I think it might be sort of true, because one month I got about 20 points because scorewatch said "you've demonstrated use of a credit card"

I believe that may be true...BUT.....How many points are you going to lose for hight utility?? I guess once yo uguys try let us know. WHat I've seen with Fico is you tend to lose more points than you gain for the same thing.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:58:09 GMT

The point is you rack of a balance and pay if off BEFORE your statement is generated--say you rack up $700 and pay off 690 of it BEFORE your monthly statement is created. Note once your statement is created, it will then report a $10 balance to the credit agencies

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:32:29 GMT

It all depends when your CCC reports to the CRA. If they report while you have that small balance, then your util will be low which is beneficial for your score. But some CCCs report after your statement date so if you have PIFd and have a zero balance you won't have optimum util. Your score is always going to be calculated by your util at one point in time only so it doesn't matter what you do every month (provided you pay on time, of course).

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:51:41 GMT

"Your score is always going to be calculated by your util at one point in time only so it doesn't matter what you do every month (provided you pay on time, of course)."

I beg to differ--I believe your score is effected by how much credit you use and pay off as well as utilization. In the end the calc utilzation, but I believe usage also counts, because I got several scorewatch alerts telling me so.

In addition, you can really work the system if you know when and what your creditor reports. That's what I'm learning anyway.

Message Edited by rifleman on 08-10-2007 01:51 PM

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Takunda1 — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 20:53:21 GMT

rifleman wrote:
"Your score is always going to be calculated by your util at one point in time only so it doesn't matter what you do every month (provided you pay on time, of course)."

I beg to differ--I believe your score is effected by how much credit you use and pay off as well as utilization. In the end the calc utilzation, but I believe usage also counts, because I got several scorewatch alerts telling me so.

Usage only counts when you info is reported to the CRA. If you hold a high balance and pay it off b4 a statement is generated then that usage is not reported to the CRA. Remember most Creditors report to the CRA only once a month. So as of right now I would would say that what you heard won't work. It will however keep you in good dreces with your creditor who may reward by giving you a CLI which in turn mya help increse your score, becasue your utility is lowered by a CLI

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 21:39:09 GMT

i wonder if there is something the agencies report that we can't see...i wonder this fromtime to time...what else is weighted that is not openly discussed. There must be something, or there must be other factors beyond what we know. But I'll keep experimenting with my balance theory and let you know what happens.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 00:00:58 GMT

I hadn't heard that before, but it makes sense. I do know you're supposed to actually USE the credit cards somewhat. My mom has a credit card but never uses it for anything and she thinks this is helping her to have awesome credit. She's just a great money manager; that's why her credit is good.

Message Edited by Barry on 08-10-2007 05:00 PM

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:02:03 GMT

rifleman wrote:
"Your score is always going to be calculated by your util at one point in time only so it doesn't matter what you do every month (provided you pay on time, of course)."

I beg to differ--I believe your score is effected by how much credit you use and pay off as well as utilization. In the end the calc utilzation, but I believe usage also counts, because I got several scorewatch alerts telling me so.

In addition, you can really work the system if you know when and what your creditor reports. That's what I'm learning anyway.

Message Edited by rifleman on 08-10-2007 01:51 PM

I believe the scorewatch alerts are using the term "usage" to mean utilization.

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

MidnightVoice — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:16:04 GMT

rifleman wrote:
...That if you charge up a large balance on a credit card and quickly pay it down to almost zero $$, your score will jump up many points. Is this true? I think it might be sort of true, because one month I got about 20 points because scorewatch said "you've demonstrated use of a credit card"

It has never worked for me. This is in fact what I do at the moment - pay off most or all of the balance before the cards report, to keep util low. So the CRA never sees the transactions at all. And it has not caused any sudden and unexpected increases in score

Re: I heard through the grapevine...

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:09:34 GMT

rifleman wrote:
The point is you rack of a balance and pay if off BEFORE your statement is generated--say you rack up $700 and pay off 690 of it BEFORE your monthly statement is created. Note once your statement is created, it will then report a $10 balance to the credit agencies

I can't image that would work. Why would it unless they report the higher balance in the first place. The drop would be due to the reporting first the high balance, and then the followed up by the lower balance.

I just took a hit, according to score watch, because my Chevron card ($1000 cl) balance increased by $201. The prior balance was 45. It's paid down now, hopefully I get my points back.