Credit card payoff dropped my score!

[Anonymous]

I was on a payment plan to pay off my citi card for the last few years. Citibank had an autopayment set up to retreive the same amount every month. The balance was originally $25,000. The card has now been finished the payment plan and is completely paid off as agreed and it dropped my credit score almost 30 points!! Why?

[tufa4311]

Was this card the only card you have, or if you have more than one card, was this the only card that was carrying a balance? If every credit line you have reports a zero balance that is not good, at least for your credit score. You want one card reporting a 1-9% utilization every month. You don't need to wait until you incur interest just until after it reports. Ask them what their reporting date to the CRA is. Remember, you've got to use credit to optimize your credit score!