Aging of TLs

[vanillabean]

I pulled my EQ score today and found something interesting. It went up three points, and the only difference I could find was that my most recent TL (and maybe something else too!) had aged a month. I found the increase to be impressive. And nice knowing that even a minor difference in aging can produce a score change.

That brings up the question of what you can expect from a new credit card entering your credit reports. Your score has already taken a hit from the hard inquiry. Will you be punished once again for the lower AAoA, or might you experience a slight increase based on the added credit limit and mix of credit?

My myFICO SW simultator says +/- 10 points. But I see little indication of what's + or what's -.

[laz98]

so far, my experience has been a loss of points for the inquiries, the new accounts & the lower AAoA.

[llecs]

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@Anonymous-own-fico wrote:

I pulled my EQ score today and found something interesting. It went up three points, and the only difference I could find was that my most recent TL (and maybe something else too!) had aged a month. I found the increase to be impressive. And nice knowing that even a minor difference in aging can produce a score change.

That brings up the question of what you can expect from a new credit card entering your credit reports. Your score has already taken a hit from the hard inquiry. Will you be punished once again for the lower AAoA, or might you experience a slight increase based on the added credit limit and mix of credit?

My myFICO SW simultator says +/- 10 points. But I see little indication of what's + or what's -.

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Historically, most of my score increases have been on the first of each month, when FICO sees a change in the age for each TL. Certainly not saying that all produce a change, but have seen large gains when my oldest TL ages or when the 12-month old TL hits a birthday.

[vanillabean]

Does anyone know when Discover reports? Citi is very fast and often within 36 hours after the statement cutoff.

[vanillabean]

Discover tells me they report every Friday. Since my statement cutoff was on a Friday, it'll be the following Friday. 

[llecs]

I have a Discover More and they never reported every Friday. Maybe they reported on a Friday in the past, but they've always reported my statement balance starting within a day or so of the statement date. For me, they reported first on EX, followed by EQ and TU. EX has normally been faster for me.

[vanillabean]

I seem to recall someone saying Discover will report monthly only if you never use the card and as such always have a zero balance. That's unlikely to happen to me. They are welcome to report me every hour on the hour if they like.

[RobertEG]

In my opinion, getting a new credit card is a decision that is based on many factors other than short-term addition of any inquiry, a reduction of AAoA, or the increase of CL.  Yes, all of these factor in.  The benefit of the added CL can quickly become a negative if your % util on that card becomes high.  FICO does not score on CL.

For the longer term, if your credit file is "lean," meaning, for example, that you have only one revoloving line of credit now, then addition of another revolving line of credit could be a future, rather than just short-term, action that may show benefits a year or more from now.  Particularly if it is a major bank card.  You wont get out of the "lean" credit scoring bucket without having multiple revolving lines of credit.

[vanillabean]

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@RobertEG wrote:

In my opinion, getting a new credit card is a decision that is based on many factors other than short-term addition of any inquiry, a reduction of AAoA, or the increase of CL.  Yes, all of these factor in.  The benefit of the added CL can quickly become a negative if your % util on that card becomes high.  FICO does not score on CL.

For the longer term, if your credit file is "lean," meaning, for example, that you have only one revoloving line of credit now, then addition of another revolving line of credit could be a future, rather than just short-term, action that may show benefits a year or more from now.  Particularly if it is a major bank card.  You wont get out of the "lean" credit scoring bucket without having multiple revolving lines of credit.

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Had no idea about such a lean credit scoring bucket. Thanks! I'll check in a few weeks to see if there's a change after the first year.