Credit card balance

[Gmv]

I paid down my chase freedom flex balance to zero and my transunion score went down 7 points why is this? Credit line is 5k on card as well. 

[Lou-natic]

Is it your only card? If so then that's why.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Gmv wrote:

I paid down my chase freedom flex balance to zero and my transunion score went down 7 points why is this? Credit line is 5k on card as well. 

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1. I don't know what your "transunion score" is.

2. We would need to know what the scoring model is, and what the status is of your other accounts, to give you an answer as to why this occurred.

[Gmv]

1. Score was 690 

2. scoring model is my-FICO and my other credit card (capital one venture)  is paid off every month so balance is zero. Only two credit cards I have. 

[Jnbmom]

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@Gmv wrote:

1. Score was 690 

2. scoring model is my-FICO and my other credit card (capital one venture)  is paid off every month so balance is zero. Only two credit cards I have. 

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If you only have 2 cards and they both report zero you will lose a few points . Just leave a small balance report score should bounce back up .

[Ficoproblems247]

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@Gmv wrote:

1. Score was 690 

2. scoring model is my-FICO and my other credit card (capital one venture)  is paid off every month so balance is zero. Only two credit cards I have. 

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FICO hits you with an all zero penalty when you have all revolvers showing 0 balance. People get sore over this, thinking it is because you "need to be in debt" to have a higher score. The reasoning is that when all cards have a 0 balance, it appears you are not using your credit at all. This is due to FICO scoring currently having no memory of balances from month to month, it is mearly a snapshot of your accounts at any one single moment. A borrower that uses no credit is historically more of a risk than a borrower that uses a little credit responsibly. When you pay off a Chase card to 0, it will report to the bureaus at a 0 balance even if it is the middle of a billing cycle when it would not normally report. This is a quirky think about Chase revolving accounts and why your score dropped when you paid the card off. In short, let one card report a minimal balance each month for an optimal credit score. 

[SouthJamaica]

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@Gmv wrote:

1. Score was 690 

2. scoring model is my-FICO and my other credit card (capital one venture)  is paid off every month so balance is zero. Only two credit cards I have. 

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I still don't know what the scoring model is.

But I can tell you that if you only have 2 credit cards, and they both reported a zero balance, you got the "all zero penalty".

The way to avoid that in the future is to let one card report a small balance before you pay it off.

[Gmv]

Understood. What do you mean by scoring mode for future reference? I took that as either fico or vantage scoring models. 

[EAJuggalo]

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@Gmv wrote:

Understood. What do you mean by scoring mode for future reference? I took that as either fico or vantage scoring models. 

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What PP is referring to is which FICO model.  Different models have different weights and different things they look for.  Currently used regularly for credit decisions are I believe 2,4,5,8 and 9.  Most of what gets posted and talked about here are FICO 8s.  You'll see some discussion of FICO 9s, especially with regards to Credit Unions.

[SouthJamaica]

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@Gmv wrote:

Understood. What do you mean by scoring mode for future reference? I took that as either fico or vantage scoring models. 

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There are about 7 or 8 different TransUnion FICO scores.