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I just have a picture of it. I'm not able to understand why will a positive balance change will affect my score...
There are many factors in scoring, and it can be wonky. I've had situations where my balance increased by like $100 and my score went down 5-7 points which seems ridiculous. On the other hand, when paying down, I've seen situations where it did not change/help my score, unless the util was very high.
You lost points most likely due to another factor that isn't being mentioned. A new account reporting/AAOA, etc.
In my view, Fico scoring should be treated like Stocks. They go up and down, but so long as the trend is upwards, everything is fine. Ignore the short term fluctuations, unless you're looking to app for a longer term fixed loan.
Paid credit scores are worthless information unless you are looking to make a huge purchase such as buying a car or home. But even then you're taking a risk because your lendor could be pulling a score totally different than the once you purchased.
@Anonymous wrote:Paid credit scores are worthless information unless you are looking to make a huge purchase such as buying a car or home.
Which is why I will be cancelling my monitoring. Honestly, there is little need to pay to watch your scores day by day, especially if you have no large purchases coming up. Just a waste of money.
@kdm31091 wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:Paid credit scores are worthless information unless you are looking to make a huge purchase such as buying a car or home.
Which is why I will be cancelling my monitoring. Honestly, there is little need to pay to watch your scores day by day, especially if you have no large purchases coming up. Just a waste of money.
And especially true with the free scores now available with credit cards (in addition to the TU ones that have been available for a long time). A snapshot every few weeks, and free EQ/TU reports from CK will fill most needs. If you are about to apply for a mortgage (and maybe other large loans) you will want more, but for most other situations you shouldn't need to pay.
I do not at all agree that paid monitoring is a waste of money. We easily spend money on Netflix, eating out, buying clothes, or a host of other unncessary stuff.
For me Credit Check Total https://www.creditchecktotal.com/ at $14.99/month is an investment in knowing what's going on with my credit and financial profile. It may not be necessary for everyone. It gives me a comfort level in knowing in real time things that can effect my financial health and profile. Since our financial or credit profile has such a large impact on how we transact business and access credit and financial resources here, I want to be on top of it for myself and not feel like I am at the mercy of others who have a far greater insight to my credit profile than I do. If something bad pops up, I want to be able to immediately respond to it, and not have to wait months later to find out why my scores have dropped or what error has been posted to my record.
And I understand there are blah blah blah number of Fico versions.
As far as answering the OP, I've been in a similar situation where you pay down your CC balances by $2000+ in a month and expect a score jump, and little to nothing happens. Then the next month you pay down your balances by a far smaller amount and the score jumps 10-15 points. But it is even more disconcerting when your score falls.
Keep plugging away at paying your individual CC balances down and the overall balances down. Get your individual card and overall balance down below 30%, then 20% and lastly then with the 1-9% range. If your total CC balances remain high, then even paying down $2000+ in a month may not give you the immediate boost you were expecting. But in time your score will jump. Also, try to pay all your cards down except for one, and make sure your utilization for that one card is between 1-9%.
What are your CC balances to CL? What is your individual CC utlization % and overall utilization %. The anwser to your score change likely lies in those factors.
Give us more information to work with.
The only reason I use monitoring is for Identity theft. I also check my cards once a week just for fraud purposes.
Merchants, banks and health insurance companies being hacked, monitoring is just an insurance policy for me, the scores are just an add bonus.
OP, don't worry about daily changes, it's the long-term picture of your scores increasing.
For most, there really isn't a compelling reason to pay for a "score," since as others have mentioned, these days there are tons of ways to get free reporting. It's far more important what's on one's CRAs, than whatever the score may be. Of course, unless you're in the 800 club!
However, there cases where I think it is worth paying for. Real time instant reporting for those who work in industries where any potential mistake in CRAs could cause considerable inconvenience, such as the Financial and Banking industries.