A little confused....

[Anonymous]

I initially was subscribed to score watch for Equifax only. Today I decided to upgrade to the 3 bureau for the extra $5. What I got was a little confusing. My last scorewatch alert was on 9/23 for a balance change when my score went from 717->723. When I ordered the 3 bureau I got these wildly different scores. I have USAA daily pulls... Nothing on the report has changed since that balance update on 9/23. As you can see below my last alert was the balance change on 9/23. My questions are:

1. What could possibly cause this dramatic of a jump with no new lines reporting or baddies falling off?

2. Why such a drastic difference in scores between the 3? All 3 bureaus have the exact same accounts.

My report is thin and is as follows:
BoA CC opened 7/14
Capital Bank CC opened 7/14
Honda Finance installment opened 12/05

Total reported revolving credit limit is $550.

I have a huntington voice card that has not yet reported on any bureau. Opened 8/14

My score has gone from 520 on July 3rd to the scores you see below so my head is kind of spinning at this point that I've made this kind of progress.

9/23 Alert

http://s29.postimg.org/i30649tlz/2014_10_02_08_34_16.png

10/1 update.
http://s29.postimg.org/5ksrf6bdz/2014_10_02_08_34_58.png

[jamie123]

That's the benefit of having a brand new clean file! I'm jealous!

Your lack of revolving credit is what held your scores down until recently. Your file is really thin so it will jump around quite a bit until it settles down as it ages.

Yes, as long as you keep any baddies off your reports you can expect your scores to stay in the 700s or even go higher. One late payment will however drop your scores about 75 points so keep on top of your timely payments.

I suggest gardening these cards for at least 6 months before apping for anything else. If you wait 6 months you should qualify for most top tier cards. If you wait for 1 year you will qualify for most top tier cards AND high credit lines.

Good luck!

[CreditDunce]

I am not familiar with the product you purchased from Equifax.  Is it really a FICO score?  I am afraid you may have three FAKO scores which don't mean much.  Cap1 also provides a free FAKO TU score.  FAKO scores are ok for tracking your progress, but won't get you approved for anything.

With your low CL's, your score will bounce around all over the place based on utilization.   The utilization noise will make it very difficult to keep track of how your score is doing.  If you really want to closely track it, I would pick a utilization number (e.g. 5%).  Then make sure one CC reports that balance each month.  The other CC should report a zero balance.  You will need to pay your CC bill before the statement cuts.  Then pay the remaining balance after the statement cuts for this to work properly.  For example, if you have a $200 and $300 for CL's on your two CC's.  You could make sure that $10 (5%) always reports on the $200 CC and 0$ reports on the $300 CC.

The other option is just to pay your bills on time and your credit score will take care of itself over time.

Your score will increase quickly without any intervention on your part.  All it really needs is time to age.

If you want to cheaply monitor your credit score, look into getting a Barclay, Discover or Wally CC.  They offer a free TU-08 score.  There are of course other options for free FICO scores.

[Anonymous]

Those scores were all attained her from myFico. They are indeed Fico 08 scores. It appears my AAoA has jumped from 2-3 years. That's the only change from 9/23 to now. That's still a startling jump for 1 year in AAoA.

[CreditDunce]

congratulations.  That is a nice bump in score for just crossing the 3 year AAoA line.

[Revelate]

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@CreditDunce wrote:

congratulations.  That is a nice bump in score for just crossing the 3 year AAoA line.

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Interesting, and congrats OP!

My report will likely have settled down by the time I get to the AAOA 2->3 year transition, will have to see if that boosts my various FICO scores similarly.

I'd always suggested that 1->2 was the biggest, and 2->3 and every subsequent change suffered diminishing returns, but that may not hold: my scores didn't move that significantly (of course I'm in a dirty bucket, YMMV) on the 1->2 change.

[Anonymous]

I've always been told 3 Revolvers will improve scores almost instantly. Since my newest card will drop me back to 2 years AAoA can I expect a dramatic drop back to my previous scores? 

[AndySoCal]

Where did you get the 520 score from?

[Anonymous]

Bank of America Credit Analyst on recon after denial of thier secured card. At the time I had the car loan above as well as 3 collections. The collections have all been deleted. And it was a successful recon.