Why does Credit Rating Drop so quickly

patchespuppy · ‎06-19-2013

New to this forum and find so much great info here.

Been working on my credit score for years. Finally got it to a reasonable figure.

Received a notice from Score Watch that my FICO Score had dropped by 3 points because I had a new outstanding balance. It was a recurring charge for insurance which is always charged automatically each month. The previous balance on the account was $0.00 because I pay it off each month. The credit score dropped within a day of the automatic charge being done. Fine...it is what it is.

BUT...I paid off the balance again and even paid off another card in full. Why didn't my FICO score then increase again? Seems they are very quick to decrease your FICO but lag like crazy when it should increase.

Seems we can't win...

llecs · ‎06-19-2013

When did you get the alert?

patchespuppy · ‎06-19-2013

I have score watch and received the alert within 24 hours of the charge happening. I know some would say why the fuss over 3 points but I have battled for years to bring my score up and now am sensitive to even a few points drop. I don't understand why the charge being paid off didn't reflect as quickly as the charge happening did.

takeshi74 · ‎06-21-2013

@patchespuppy wrote:

BUT...I paid off the balance again and even paid off another card in full. Why didn't my FICO score then increase again? Seems they are very quick to decrease your FICO but lag like crazy when it should increase.

It seems that way because you receive alerts as soon as the change occurs but paying down the balance isn't immediately reported. 3 points really isn't worth fretting over. The charge you're referring to won't have as much of an impact on your utilization as your credit lines increase. This all takes time. There are no quick fixes with building credit.