Credit score decrease

[Anonymous]

I have 2 CC which both report balances. 1. CC balance $136.43 CL $1250. 2. CC balance $1331.93 CL $6000. I also just recently had a credit limit increase on the second CC (not requested they automatically increased it).

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have 2 CC which both report balances. 1. CC balance $136.43 CL $1250. 2. CC balance $1331.93 CL $6000. I also just recently had a credit limit increase on the second CC (not requested they automatically increased it).

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Those are always nice presents when you're not expecting them.  Ddid that factor into the new reports or not?  Depending on the banks you could potentially ask for a CLI and not take a HP for them.

[Anonymous]

Yes it did. They are both Capital One CC.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

There's always an exception to the rule since life doesn't care about your FICO.

7.5% APY.... up to what amount?  Usually they have a cap of like $1K on those teaser rates.  I have a checking account that pays 2.5% up to 50K though that comes in useful for covering the electric bill every month.

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Yeah, it caps out at a relatively small amount;  either $1K or $2K.  I also have BCU checking that pays 3% APY on balances up to $15K.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Yes it did. They are both Capital One CC.

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I would go ahead and ask for a CLI on both of them then since they're in the giving mood it might be approved and help get the UTIL % down w/o having to hand them cash for the balances right now.  Of course the point benefit won't populate until they report next month.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Yeah, it caps out at a relatively small amount;  either $1K or $2K.  I also have BCU checking that pays 3% APY on balances up to $15K.

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3% is good for checking if you don't hide a lot of cash in checking monthly.  15K is a good level... most of the high APY accounts cap out at 20-25K... The teaser accounts stick relatively low though... Consumers CU in IL though has an interesting tiered APY scheme that involves using their CC to hit somewhere around 5% up to 10K 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I have 2 CC which both report balances. 1. CC balance $136.43 CL $1250. 2. CC balance $1331.93 CL $6000. I also just recently had a credit limit increase on the second CC (not requested they automatically increased it).

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What was the credit limit on the second card before the CLI to $6,000?  

FICO scoring penalizes you if all your credit cards are reporting balances to the credit bureaus.  For some, the penalty occurs when more than one-third of your cards report a balance, and for other the penalty begins when more than half of your cards report a balance. In your case 100% of your cards are reporting balances so that could be one possible reason for the decrease in score.

[Anonymous]

The CL prior to increase was $3000. I will be paying off the $136 balance of one CC this week. I will have the other CC paid off by next month. I do know the credit increase dropped my score as well. I’m just trying to find the balance of how to increase my scores. I don’t have any late payments for the past 3.5 years. Due to a recent total loss, my former car was paid off (which also decreased my score) and I had to take out a loan for another car and payments have been on time. It just seems like my credit scores just keeps dropping. So frustrating. But thank you all for your help.

[Anonymous]

It's frustrating when you're stuck in the rutt of roller coaster scores within a small band.  Time is the worst part of the whole thing... it takes a lot of it to add up to points on your scores.  Once you have cards over a decade old it's hard to shake an 800+ score though.  Of course a late or BK could knock you to your knees but, as long as you're making payments on time you're safe.  

Just hang in there and since both cards are Cap1 it's time to expand your portfolio to diversify you against single lender exposure.  I would check the pre-qual sites and see what's coming up on their radar for you and maybe we can find something that matches your spend and desires.

https://doctorofcredit.com/view-personalized-credit-card-offers/

[Anonymous]

Yeah that late payments 3.5 years ago took a toll on my scores. Thanks for the great advise! I’m definitely going to do that.