Big drop in FICO Score After Getting AMEX

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

As of April 14th my FICO score, obtained from myFico, were 703 for Equifax and Experian and 713 for TU.  I applied for both the AMEX Gold and Platinum cards, was approved.  Then, a few days later, I had to buy a computer and was convinced to finance it through Barclays Apple card, which was also approved, but for some reason I think they ran my credit twice, once for the approval and once again for a different credit limit.  Now yesterday I checked my FICO scores again and they are now 660 for EQ, 633 for Experian and 664 for TU!!  

Why the huge drops?  And how long will it take to recover from this?  I would have thought getting the AMEX cards would have helped my credit, not damage it.

I am really frustrated by this.

[Anonymous]

The type of card you get has no relationship to credit score. In other words, score wise, an Amex is no better than a Credit One. Assuming there were no other changes in your files, your scores dropped due to the new inquiries. As the inquiries age, the scores will recover.

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Why the huge drops?

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You always have to carefully compare reports from before and after the score change to determine the cause(s).  You can't just look at scores or your recollection of what happened.  It's possible that it's just due to the credit seeking activity verus your profile but there are also possible other changes at play.  We wouldn't know as we don't have access to your reports.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I would have thought getting the AMEX cards would have helped my credit, not damage it.

I am really frustrated by this.

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Impact depends on one's credit profile and how the specific changes impact that profile.  Don't just assume that getting AmEx cards helps.  All these factors matter:

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/whatsinyourscore.aspx

[Anonymous]

I would imagine that the 2 key factors would be AAoA and your inquiry count. 3 new cards is going to do some hefty lowering of your ages.

[datrucking210]

Me thinks that AMEX hasn't reported the new accounts but Barclays may have done so already. Not sure what the OP's AAoA is but that might have drop significantly therefore the drop in score. 

[RonM21]

I think all of the posts above combined (in general) are on the mark. Several of those issues may have been at play at the same time causing the drop.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the replies.

I don't see anything in my reports that has changed other than the card seeking activity.  Does this imply that the scores can recover quickly?  Like within a couple of months?  Those are awfully huge hits.

[Anonymous]

What was your AAoA and how many inquiries did you have prior to these 3 or 4 new hits?

[Anonymous]

I'm honestly not sure what my AAoA is, if I calculated it correctly, which I *highly* doubt, it is 3y9m.  I have noticed that the Barclay card is on my report, however Amex does not appear.  Does that mean it will go down even further?

My history goes back 17 years to my oldest account, which is now closed, does that figure into it at all?  Is there an easy way to figure out AAoA?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'm honestly not sure what my AAoA is, if I calculated it correctly, which I *highly* doubt, it is 3y9m.  I have noticed that the Barclay card is on my report, however Amex does not appear.  Does that mean it will go down even further?

My history goes back 17 years to my oldest account, which is now closed, does that figure into it at all?  Is there an easy way to figure out AAoA?

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Yes, the Amex will lower it even further when it reports which can take several months.  Figuring out your AAoA is just a matter of adding up the total months your accounts have been open and dividing that number by the number of accounts.