Working on a pet theory about CC payments

[Anonymous]

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@tonyaether wrote:
Well the 1-9% utilization on 1 card theory didn't work for me thus far. I am right now at 8% reporting on 1 card and for the first time in months I received no bump. I was reporting at 21% utilization on 1 card last month (6% overall) and now I am reporting at 8% on one card with 3% overall but no score jump. I will see if something happens when I get it a bit lower on that card and my new Amex limit reports, but I have given up on trying to figure it out. I think it's just a YMMV thing all the way around. There is no one fit for everyone. Before asked, there has been absolutely no changes on any of my other accounts except the fact that the card I carry the balance on reached a 1 year anniversary May 25th. I got the 2 points I lost for the inquiry back on EQ on June 1st. But when my statement balance posted on June 8th, there was no bump at all on EQ or TU...I have no idea with EX.

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How did you track you score? Did you just buy report before and after, or are you using scorewatch? Remember ideal utilization is just a guide but will for sure provide a bump over all 0 balances. Maybe it didn't provide a bump over your scenario since you were already below 10% total util and balance only on one card.

[Anonymous]

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@Revelate wrote:

Thanks Wolf / Chris.

My own personal opinion I simply run some charges through every card (even if it's just an auto-pay) each month.  I find it a little odd that a dormant account would be considered a minor beneficial thing from a FICO perspective unless you had a boatload of tradelines to begin with.  Certainly UW might quibble over unused tradelines.

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Maybe dormant to active accounts get some sort of new account hit similar to when you get new account.

[Tonya-E]

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How did you track you score? Did you just buy report before and after, or are you using scorewatch? Remember ideal utilization is just a guide but will for sure provide a bump over all 0 balances. Maybe it didn't provide a bump over your scenario since you were already below 10% total util and balance only on one card.

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I subscribe to scorewatch for EQ and purchased my score from TU here at myfico (I have the quarterly monitoring for TU here at myfico as well). There was no bump. You are right that I was below 10% total utilization to start. Maybe that is why I got no increase. However, I was at 20% on the one card reporting a balance with the others reporting zero. I had always heard the best way to do it was to be at or under 9-10% on one card with the others at zero.

[Anonymous]

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@tonyaether wrote:

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How did you track you score? Did you just buy report before and after, or are you using scorewatch? Remember ideal utilization is just a guide but will for sure provide a bump over all 0 balances. Maybe it didn't provide a bump over your scenario since you were already below 10% total util and balance only on one card.

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I subscribe to scorewatch for EQ and purchased my score from TU here at myfico (I have the quarterly monitoring for TU here at myfico as well). There was no bump. You are right that I was below 10% total utilization to start. Maybe that is why I got no increase. However, I was at 20% on the one card reporting a balance with the others reporting zero. I had always heard the best way to do it was to be at or under 9-10% on one card with the others at zero.

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Remember it is just a guide. For example, if it had been on two cards and you reduced to one card, you would have seen a lift. But there might be another explanation, scorewatch does not immediately report decreases in fico score from balance decreases. How long has it been since you paid down balance? Do you have scorewatch set correctly (ie alert set on credit score = to current score)? It can take a week for it to register for scorewatch if alert set correctly.

[Tonya-E]

It hasn't quite been a week yet since the decrease reported. I have never experienced a week long lag in my score jump/decreases. I have had scorewatch for a few years and generally when the change occurs my alert comes right after (not even 24 hours later). I use the scorewatch directly with EQ though so that may be a difference than purchasing through myfico (though I doubt it). My settings are accurate. Everytime my score moves I change my target score to match. I will see what happens in the next week or so.

[Revelate]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Revelate wrote:

Thanks Wolf / Chris.

My own personal opinion I simply run some charges through every card (even if it's just an auto-pay) each month.  I find it a little odd that a dormant account would be considered a minor beneficial thing from a FICO perspective unless you had a boatload of tradelines to begin with.  Certainly UW might quibble over unused tradelines.

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Maybe dormant to active accounts get some sort of new account hit similar to when you get new account.

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That's an interesting theory, it's pretty conventional wisdom that new tradeline penalties are from inquiries (the dreaded seeking new credit flag) and a hit to AAoA with the newly reported account; however, is there a further penalty beyond these two issues that I (and probably most folks) are unaware of?