@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
@AzCreditGuy wrote:
@Jnbmom wrote:First question is where are you getting your scores from ?
FICO scoring thresholds: 8.9%, 28.9%, 48.9%, 68.9%, 88.9%
Experian seems to not care for these thresholds, for me they didnt and I stayed at 801 while I went from 68.9% to under 8.9%
How Fico reacts to individual credit card utilization is highly profile/scorecard dependent. I used to be able to take a lower limit UT test card from under 9% to over 75 % with no change in any Fico 8 scores (kept ag UT under 9% in all cases).
At the time I had an open installment loan, a mortgage. Now with my mortgage closed and no open loans I do see score changes when a single card reports elevated utilization. Individual card utilization level can and does impact score on EQ/TU/EX even though the factor appears not to be in play for some profiles. Card UT is a scoring factor mentioned on Fico reason code lists and discussed by Fico in their consumer education articles.
One thing that is different with EX relative to TU/EQ is the scoring factor: accounts with balances. Fico 8 reason code lists show too many accounts with balances as a negative code for EQ/TU. This factor is not shown for EX. Many posters have mentioned score drops on EQ/TU but not EX when increasing # of cards reporting balances.
My EX scores, both 2 and 8, have been sensitive to number of accounts with balance. At some point I had a working theory that 40% was a significant threshold for me. I have no idea about EQ and TU because I have never been able to get daily updates on those.
@KeithW wrote:Kind of surprising with all the smart people out there that someone hasn't reverse-engineered the scoring down to a tee. I am sure they could make a fortune selling that info to people that want to boost their scores.
There has been a great deal of work done in this area. See link to dedicated thread below. Also, you may want to look thru the pinned Fico Q&A thread at the top of this Forum.
With specific regards to data on # account with balances and impact on score by credit bureau, see the below link (post 29). Note the lack of response from EX relative to EQ and TU. The 2nd link is a more detailed study with discussion (look at the table in the initial post). A graph of that data is re-pasted below (note the "all zeros" no recent revolving activity penalty):
While the older EX Fico 98 (score 2) and EX Fico 04 (score 3) do respond slightly to # of accounts with balances, I found the response to be most dramatic with EQ Fico 04 (score 5) and in between with TU Fico 04 (score 4), (see graph). The outsized drop on EQ was reported by CGID and BBS as well.
I wanted to post an update.
My aggregate Utilization is now reporting to all three CRAs as being between 42 and 45 percent and I paid down another 3 cards to zero and they are reporting as such. My EQ score jumped up 20 points, but my TU and EX haven't changed more than a point or two. As far as negatives, they have started showing one that says I have had a consumer finance account, but I am not sure what that is or how to find it on the reports. I will post an updated spreadsheet when I get home for comparison as well as my score before and after paying all this down.
I also find it funny how you can have most of the categories be excellent or very good and then still have a credit score of 638. My 5 inquiries in the past year were primarily from a car purchase which accounted for 3.
