Re: Why is VantageScore such a terrible system?

Anonymous · ‎01-19-2021

My credit utilization on one of my credit cards went from 91% down to 26% and it dropped my Vantage Score by 31 points. What is this? Why did this happen? Although my FICO went up by 17 points, shouldn't Vantage have also significantly gone up?

FalconSteve · ‎01-19-2021

Even for Vantage, that seems really odd. Did they lower your credit limit (balance chase)? Did anything else change?

I would pull my credit reports to check for an error to be safe

annualcreditreport.com has the truly free reports (available weekly because of the pandemic, instead of yearly)

1/8/17 Discover $18300 CL- $1k SL- AU, wife
1/26/20 AmEx Cash Magnet $35k CL, wife
2/19/20 BB&T/Truist Rewards $11k SL- impulse application
2/22/20 Citi Double Cash WEMC $2.9k-->$4.4k-->$8.4k-->$13.4k-->$17.4k-->$19.4k-->$22.4k-->27.4k AU, wife
3/8/20 Wells Fargo Propel AmEx/Autograph VISA $2900-->$3200-->$5000-->$8800-->$13k-->$15.5k CL- AU, wife
3/9/20 Truist Rewards $11k SL --> $13.5k- AU, wife- impulse app
3/21/20 REDcard MasterCard (TD Bank) $2500-->$6000-->$6500 CL
11/24/20 AmEx Cash Magnet $10k SL-->36hr-->$20k-->$35k CL
6/10/21 SoFi World Elite MC $7000 SL
1/19/22 AppleCard/GS $6k-->$10k-->$11k-->$12k AU, wife
8/15/22 Chase freedom flex $10.3k SL-->$12.5k-->$15k-->$19k AU, wife
7/5/23 Lowes/Synchrony $4k-->$10k-->same day-->$35k CL
8/2/23 Chase freedom flex $19k --> $22.8k-->24.3k CL
8/2/23 Discover $8k SL

MasonK · ‎01-20-2021

I see alot of correlation between VS3 and FICO9 so I'm interested in seeing my next 9 score after today.

I had been carrying a 30%+ utilization of about $4k on my CFU card due to 0% APR on a large purchase. I paid it down to just over 1% of the card limit and my TU VS3 went from 771 to 754. No other events would have triggered a drop since it has been rising from about 750 to 771 over the last 6 months that I was carrying that huge balance.

VS3 must consider utilization very differently and the 1% is not optimal for that model.

1/1/16 FICO8 Scores: EX: 407, EQ: 403, TU: 455
4/1/24 FICO8 Scores: EX: 832, EQ: 820, TU: 834
FICO9 EX: 818
Total Revolving Limits: $152,300

American Express Platinum | NPSL | $10,000 POT

American Express Gold | NPSL | $15,000 POT

Chase Amazon Prime | CL $18,700; SL $6,500

CapitalOne Quicksilver | CL $4,200; SL $2,000

CapitalOne SavorOne | CL $10,000; SL $10,000

OpenSky- The only people that would approve my first card.

Anonymous · ‎01-20-2021

No. Nothing else changed. Its funny. Another credit card increased by $5 and I opened a new account and my score went up 30 points. But now that a different card dropped by $230 to a utilization of 26% it went down by 31 points.

Anonymous · ‎01-20-2021

People have been reporting wonky VS score swings both up and down that can't be explained or don't seem to make sense based on the report data changes for probably a decade now. I don't see it changing any time soon. My best advice would be to simply ignore it and focus on your Fico scores which are far more meaningful.

Why is VantageScore such a terrible system?

Get your FICO® Score for free

Why is VantageScore such a terrible system?