Why did my credit score drop 13 points?

[Anonymous]

Hi Everyone,

In September I signed up for the quarterly score mointoring through MyFico. I recieved my TransUnion score of 755 in September. Yesterday I received an updated score and was disapointed to see it dropped 13 points to 742. My credit is completely clean. My 755 score reported an $80 or so charge on my VS card and $1000 ish on my Amex Green. My 742 score reported $43 on my Bloomies card and $2000 ish on my Amex Green. Is the higher balance on the Amex what is dropping my score? Nothing else has changed which is why I was so suprised. I also thought that charge cards didn't effect your score but maybe I am mistaken. Thanks!

[user5387]

You might want to look at this thread:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/Role-of-Charge-card-AMEX-Zync-in-FICO-Sco...

It talks about charge card utilization and TU.

Beyond that, there may be other subtle factors at work.  For example, if an old account drops off your report, then your AAoA will change.

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by if an old account drops off? A card I would've closed?

[user5387]

I have a closed CC on my reports.

At some point it will disappear, and my AAoA will change as a result.

Either party can close a CC or other account, and they may be also closed as the result of a dispute.  For example, I once had a Lending Club loan that was reporting incorrectly.  I disputed it, and instead of fixing it, the account was deleted entirely.

Another example is the fact that your AAoA is typically gradually increasing from day to day, and occasionally this may cause your score to change, as you drop into new ranges and so on.

[Anonymous]

I understand what you're saying. I don't have any closed accounts though. Thanks for directing me to the above thread! I'm reading it through now. I guess it's not that big of a deal but I was just shocked to see the 13 point difference.

[takeshi74]

It's really impossible for us to answer questions like this without knowing everything on the reports before and after the change.  All we can offer is the generalized answer "What changed?".  What was your total revolving utilization (charge cards do not count) before and after?  Did you have any accounts added or removed?  Any inquiries?

[lg8302ch]

Number of accounts reporting a balance?  My little test was 1$ balance on 8 accounts and I lost 50 points and my util was only 1% ...if nothing has changed, util is lower maybe number of accounts with a small balance is higher?