Discover unOfficial Data Points

[Anonymous]

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@bizarrocreditworld wrote:

Thanks for the insight. I'm not expecting to speak with with a real analyst, but rather an "analyst" (someone who has the title but not the skillset).

It's not a big deal, but if all I'm hearing is people get CLIs within 90 days or after the third statement and I'm not getting similar results at day 112 despite putting several thousand through the card and PIF every month, then at least I would like to know what they're seeing on their screen so it can be addressed.

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I'm planning to try for my next CLI once my next payment has processed and my next statement has been cut and see if I'm on the 30-day track. I don't expect a big one if I'm successful - I got a $500 auto-CLI after my 3rd statement cut, and then a $300 manual the same day, so maybe $500 if I'm lucky; my TU improved from 640 to 646 this month so that should help a bit.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the information austinguy907. I am not sure what the odds are for me in getting a CLI. I got approved back in March 10, 2017 and my third statement cuts this June 23, 2017. My credit history is fairly new (9 mos. old) AAoA has been reduced to 5 mos. with Discover and Amex being added into the mix. I currently own just three cards between Capital 1 with a 500L and then 1k from both Discover and Amex. I am trying to wait on an auto CLI but would that likely even happen if my average account age is just 5 Mos. old? Also, I did not understand why my Fico scores keep going down, when in fact my credit habits remained to be possitive. 100% on time payments 3% utilization on the most latest report. But my score had gone done from 736 to 715 then to 703 to now 701 despite my efforts. And I was thinking that a CLI would be my redemption in kick starting that Fico up again. But what am I doing wrong?

[austinguy907]

You're not doing anything wrong.  It's just when you're starting out and need to add accounts to the mix your AAOA drops and so does your score for a little while.   You have 3 accounts now and that's ideal for scoring.  At this point I would sit tight with applying for more accounts for at least a year to let your scores rebound a bit and collect your CLI's on your accounts to boost your overall CL.

The auto CLI isn't 100% for anyone.  If you don't see one then, after 90 days has passed from your opening of the card then you should potentially see some $ from the CLI button.  Since your Disco / AMEX seem to have been opened around the same time don't forget to CLI your AMEX as well by 3X the CL.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Also, I did not understand why my Fico scores keep going down, when in fact my credit habits remained to be possitive. 100% on time payments 3% utilization on the most latest report. But my score had gone done from 736 to 715 then to 703 to now 701 despite my efforts. And I was thinking that a CLI would be my redemption in kick starting that Fico up again. But what am I doing wrong?

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Where are you getting those scores from?

[Anonymous]

Those scores are from my monthly billing statements from Discover. When I was approved for the card the Fico that was used to approve the application was EQ and at the time it was 728, but when my account was established and the first FICO score was available, it was 736 TU, then after Discover got added to my credit report, the FICO has gone down to 715 and then it kept going down which is now at 701 based on Discover's page when I log into my account to view my FICO score. 

[Anonymous]

Normal things that lower your credit score:

• AAoA decreasing: generally for each year it decreases, you can see a 5 point drop.  If your AAoA went from 5 years to 1 year from opening new accounts, you might expect a 20 point drop.
• Utilization on ONE card going high, probably over 40%.  If your overall utilization is 5% but one card went over 40%, you may see a drop.
• New inquiries can hurt -- I believe data points exist that an inquiry can hurt you for anywhere from 1 to 8 points, but after a certain number of inquiries you won't get any new penalties.
• Average age of new accounts can hurt
• Paying off your own installment loan to $0 can hurt

Did any of these happen over the past few months?

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the advice, I did apply for a CLI with Amex on the 65th day but was denied stating that I have limited history as an AMEX member. At the time of the CLI request my experian FICO score was 692 when I log into my account on AMEX, that was a score from May 20th which has since rebounded to 721 to date. But I know that I cannot apply for a CLI again, not for the next 90 days post denial if I am correct. I read through all of your posts here and I am learning more and more each day so I thank you truly for sharing a lot of what you know.

[Anonymous]

Amex doesn't only rely on FICO scoring but they WILL use FICO's reason codes to explain their adverse action even if it is a lie.  Amex also uses their internal scoring which they are not legally required to tell you if they can rely on a FICO BS reason code.

Be aware that Amex and other creditors may keep track of data in soft pulls so if you had really high utilization on a previous month that you since paid off, it doesn't mean that Amex (and other creditors) aren't aware of it.  They can still spit out some useless FICO reason code for denying you a CLI.

[Anonymous]

Well, my AAoA did lower when Discover and AMEX got added to the credit report, currently at 5 mos. My longest history comes from Capital One which is now going on it's 10th month. My over all utilization is 3%, but here's the breakdown of my last report.

CAP 1 - limit 500 vs balance as of statement cut of was $5.89

Discover limit $1K vs balance from May statement still showing on report $43.44

AMEX limit $1K vs balance as of statement cut of was $24.72

So in essence, I am not really going overboard with any of my credit cards, I do use them and those balances are what I leave behind just to get reported to the CB's, the inquiries that I obtained are of course from my most recent application with Discover and AMEX. I only did two inquiries this year from both companies and last year had a couple, one with Cap 1 (first card) and Chase back in Sept. 2016

[Anonymous]

I also should have mentioned that some FICO scoring will give you a point loss if you have a balance on more than one card, or more than 50% of cards, or some other metric which is a balance reporting on "too many cards".