I paid off my Southwest Premier before the statement cut, but I had left a balance the previous two statements so my grace period was gone. They put the $13 in interest on my statement and my EQ score dropped 4 points. Why, you ask. Didn't you go from a big balance to just $13? Shouldn't your score have gone up? Well, for some reason, when I paid the balance to 0, they reported that to the bureaus mid-cycle for some reason. So MyFICO says my balance went up 100%, from $0 to $13 and my score dropped 4 points.
I did get a bump around the time the 0 balance reported, but there were several improvements that contributed.
It's my highest limit card at $8,000. Crazy that a $13 balance can make any difference. I guess it's because I have a few other balances, but they are taking advantage of 0% APR offers. My total util % is around 17%.
How the scoring plays out vs the timing can sometimes be tricky for sure
I went ahead and paid the $13 the day after my statement cut, and now Chase has reported to the bureaus that my account is back to zero. So, now they have reported $0, $13 and $0 again, all in less than a week's time. MyFICO just let me know I got my 4 points back.