Zync reporting usage - credit score drop

[Anonymous]

Hi there, 

Ive been a long time stalker here and have my first question, I have been good about paying my zync card before the statement cuts but recently I let it report because I forgot about it, it had a 13 dollar balance that reported and my score watch reported a 8 point drop in my score. Is this normal? currently my utl is only at 5% with the other cards that normally report.

Oh and all the advice on here has been great, I have had a 50 point increase since joining less than a year ago, thanks to everyone on here!

[Anonymous]

I use the TU quarterly score from here, and last month I noticed the same thing.. I had a 40 point drop cause it was calculating my amex zync into my CC util, but on my EQ it is not, same with EX. 

Frustrating, but what can we do?

[Anonymous]

yep....same with my daughter too. She is a student so she does not have high limit cards yet.  Also calculated into her utility. She is going to PIF before statement cuts on Zync, and keep one card reporting under 7%. Score should bounce back next month (hopefully).

[MrShush]

Always happens when I irresponsibly let a balance sit on the due date with my Green. Dont worry, your score will bounce back in 30-45 days.

[Walt_K]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi there, 

Ive been a long time stalker here and have my first question, I have been good about paying my zync card before the statement cuts but recently I let it report because I forgot about it, it had a 13 dollar balance that reported and my score watch reported a 8 point drop in my score. Is this normal? currently my utl is only at 5% with the other cards that normally report.

Oh and all the advice on here has been great, I have had a 50 point increase since joining less than a year ago, thanks to everyone on here!

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How many cards do you have.  Zync usage shouldn't factor into utilization on Equifax.  But it might factor into number of accounts with balances.  I'd guess the 8 point drop was for having another card show a non-zero balance, not because of utilization.  And there could be some other change as well that you didn't notice.

As to others posting about score changes on TU, the version of TU that you get on this site, TU98, does factor in utilization on your Amex.  So that would be normal, but not normal for EQ to consider it.

[Anonymous]

On most other versions of TU does it still calculate it the same way?? or just this version.

[Anonymous]

This is what I've learned.............

Before I joined MyFico I did not know about util and letting only one CC report a balance. (For maximizing your scores)

I used to always have two CC's report a bal and I was about 12% util then, I have since acquired a few new CC's and now have a total revolving credit of about 40K, about 4 months ago I was at 1% util with two CC's reporting small balances, I paid one off and when it reported only the one CC with a bal on my reports, my TU and EQ scores went up by 4-6 points.

So what I've noticed is that Fico really does like to see ONLY one CC with a bal and util (for me) between 1-5% my score stay the same, I have not let 2 CC's report a bal since then, but I know if I let 2 CC's report a bal next month I will see a 4-6 point loss even if I'm still at 1-5% util.

Maybe this is what happened to you? Do you normally let only one CC report a bal? And when you let the Zync report it had you with 2 CC's that reported a bal that month and dropped your score those few points?

Even if you normally let 2 CC's report a bal and this month when the Zync reported it brought you to 3 CC's with a bal, IMO I bet this is why you saw a drop, no worries tho, once your reports update to however you had them before the Zync reported this month, your scores will go right back to where they were.

I hope any of what I just typed makes to you LOL!!

[Anonymous]

ahh, i see, i guess that could all make sense. I only had 2 cards reporting a balance of around 4% utl. I have a total of 6 cc accounts, so it could be a factor. SO i will only be letting ONE account report. we shall see what happens in the next month or so. But it still irks me that my score dropped with the zync reporting a 13 dollar balance...

[Anonymous]

Isn't Zync a charge card that you can't or definitely aren't supposed to carry a balance on?

[Anonymous]

You can carry a balance on the charge card through the statement date and that balance must be paid off by the due date (Or as some have reported prior to the next statement date). So you can effectively float the charge for up to about 45 days depending on where in the cycle the charge occurs. As with all other cards, charge or revolving, paying the card off prior to the statement date is simply a manner of controlling reporting.