How Up to Date are the Alerts in our MyFico Dashboards?

[LLMel]

I just received an alert that there were changes in my Equifax data. I logged in and see that it says that there was a $508 increase on one of my cards, which lowered my score by 4 pts. I thought that didn't seem right so I signed in to check the card and sure enough I'd paid $508 (paid in full, as I do every month) on Feb 6. So I know this is only the 10th. But the $508 increase was from a few weeks ago and the PIF was four days ago. I'm just wondering if this type of lag is normal? 

[iv]

Balance data in credit reports isn't "live".

Most of the time, for most lenders, data is sent ONCE a month, frequently at the time the statement is generated, reflecting the amount of credit in use AT THAT TIME - there aren't usually any updates more frequently than that to reflect charges/payments throughout the month.

(A few lenders report at a fixed time each month, rather than at statement close, at least one (Chase) also reports any time utilization hits $0, and multiple updates throughout the month, while uncommon, can happen.)

In your current example, unless the lender was Chase, your reports will continue to display the $508 until next month, when they will update to the new statement balance.

If you want to control the balance reported to the CRAs, you need to pay it off BEFORE the statement is generated.

[Anonymous]

For being a paid service, MyFICO is slower, often by days, than the free services I have. I get literally instant notifications from CreditWise by Cap One when an inquiry or new acct hits my TU report. MF may or may not notify me and, if they do, it could be days later.

I always get notifications from Credit Sesame when my TU score changes well before MF tells me. I know the CS score is a FAKO but those notices let me know in advance when my TU score has changed.

MF is also days behind on Experian score updates. I have CCT also and the MF updates are so behind real time it's almost a joke.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Cam - my MF scores always take days longer to show new inquiries, accounts etc.

[LLMel]

thanks so much for your replies. I didn't think it was live... But have often gotten updates that almost make it seem like it is. I pay down a balance and a day or so later I get an alert. In this case it was just the opposite. I paid $508 and then 4 days later get an alert (which actually decreased my score) showing that $508 as appearing new. Thank you for explaining that to me.

[LLMel]

By the way @iv, that was a Chase card. 

[LLMel]

This may be a dumb question, but is it possible that this was an error on the part of Equifax -- as in reporting my PIF as a new charge rather than a payment? If you look at the alert it says it increased by 100 %. And since 100% of zero is still zero, I'm confused about how they arrived at that figure. 

There was a $508 balance on that account, which I paid in full. Four days later I get an alert telling me there was an increase on the card -- for that same amount, which lowered my score 4 pts. Since then my other two Chase cards have both triggered Equifax alerts (accurately reflecting that they were paid in full), and as I paid them all at the same time, this one has me stumped. 

If it is an error I assume the only way to resolve it is to charge something to that card and then pay it off again. But I just want to make sure I'm reading and understanding these alerts correctly.

[SouthJamaica]

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@LLMel wrote:

I just received an alert that there were changes in my Equifax data. I logged in and see that it says that there was a $508 increase on one of my cards, which lowered my score by 4 pts. I thought that didn't seem right so I signed in to check the card and sure enough I'd paid $508 (paid in full, as I do every month) on Feb 6. So I know this is only the 10th. But the $508 increase was from a few weeks ago and the PIF was four days ago. I'm just wondering if this type of lag is normal? 

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1. there may have been no causal relationship at all between the balance increase and score decrease

2. it varies widely when a credit bureau picks up an account change, it varies with lender and with bureau

[LLMel]

Really? That's good to know. So far every time I've seen a score increase or decrease in my dashboard it correlates to the explanation on the leftl. At least so far for me.

My main issue though is that it appears to be showing a balance increase rather than a decrease. It's the same bureau (Equifax) and same lender (Chase) as the other two cards that are accurately reporting. But this one shows a 100 percent increase (rather than what amounted to a 100 % decrease, ie paid in full).