Last month, I became an authorized user on my partner's Chase card. The account hit our reports with a $908 balance (out of a $30K credit line); my score jumped +10 on two out of three. We used the card pretty aggressively to get the reward bonus, but paid it off before the statement cycle. Today, after it reported the $0 balance to Experian, my score dropped 14 points!
Does anyone know what is going on? I am partly venting because this dropped me under 700 after working to get over 700 with two out of three of the bureaus only 2 years after a BK7, so I am bummed.
Thanks!
As mentioned, all cards with a balance of zero will ding your scores. If you'd like to read more about it, there are a couple of threads about it currently on the front page. To avoid the "all cards at zero" penalty, report a small balance on one card.
The caveat here is that Chase will report zero whenever you pay to zero. There are ways to avoid that. Ask if you'd like some detail. But it's easier to simply use another card to report your positive balance. That has Chase's practice of reporting zero working for you rather than against you.
I should have mentioned that Chase will also report whenever you call and ask them to. If the points are important to you, get the balance where you'd like it to be, then make the request.
There's no harm in waiting this out if you'd like. Your score will bounce back the next time a card reports a positive balance. It hasn't undone any of your work.
Thank you all SO MUCH! This is incredibly helpful information. I have a couple more of cards cycling next week and I will make sure it reports a balance. The members on this board are real gems!
@MrDJSeattle wrote:Last month, I became an authorized user on my partner's Chase card. The account hit our reports with a $908 balance (out of a $30K credit line); my score jumped +10 on two out of three. We used the card pretty aggressively to get the reward bonus, but paid it off before the statement cycle. Today, after it reported the $0 balance to Experian, my score dropped 14 points!
Does anyone know what is going on? I am partly venting because this dropped me under 700 after working to get over 700 with two out of three of the bureaus only 2 years after a BK7, so I am bummed.
Thanks!
1. Having all cards report zero gets you a penalty in FICO 8.
2. Optimum for scoring is to have one small balance reporting while your other cards report zero.
3. You can't use a Chase card for your non-zero balance, because as soon as you pay it off they report a zero balance.