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EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

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xynephadyn
New Member

EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

Lately I have been trying to bring my credit up as high as possible and I had an unlikely bump this month when my Experian score went up to 747 and myFicos alert says it is because of an increase of $120/2% of my utilization- bringing my utilization from 28% to now 30% (apparently the sweet spot).  Im really confused however because Equifax and Trans are still showing myFico scores in the low 700's.  Should I pull a new report and spent the 50$ or wait and see if my other scores will increase? 

 

I really need a score of 725+ and for the past few years i have been keeping my credit card balances low.  But my scores didnt rise until now! 

I dont know if I should keep it at a 30% utilization.  I dont know what I did to have Experian reward me like that.  I need Equifax and Trans to to that too now lol!

 

Any help understanding the why's and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You

Message 1 of 13
12 REPLIES 12
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???


@xynephadyn wrote:

Lately I have been trying to bring my credit up as high as possible and I had an unlikely bump this month when my Experian score went up to 747 and myFicos alert says it is because of an increase of $120/2% of my utilization-

 

 

It did not say that.

 

 

 

bringing my utilization from 28% to now 30% (apparently the sweet spot). 

 

 

Not true. Sweet spot is under 10%

 

 

Im really confused however because Equifax and Trans are still showing myFico scores in the low 700's.  Should I pull a new report and spent the 50$ or wait and see if my other scores will increase? 

 

I really need a score of 725+ and for the past few years i have been keeping my credit card balances low.  But my scores didnt rise until now! 

I dont know if I should keep it at a 30% utilization. 

 

 

To optimize your scores you should have (a) less than half your cards reporting a balance, and (b)  those cards which do report a balance reporting at less than 10% each

 

 

I dont know what I did to have Experian reward me like that.  I need Equifax and Trans to to that too now lol!

 

Any help understanding the why's and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You


 


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 2 of 13
xynephadyn
New Member

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

IT DID SAY THAT! I don't need to take a screenshot of MyFico Alert explanation to prove this to you, why would I lie? I'm confused about it so that's why I posted on here. If you can't be nice, don't comment.

I'm not ignorant of the way credit works I've been repairing it for the past 4 years meticulously. I've heard 10% is the sweet spot but it hasn't been for me.
Message 3 of 13
Appleman
Valued Contributor

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

Welcome to myFICO. I don't think Jamaica was trying to be rude, just some quick answers.

 

I believe you in that it said that your score changed and it was related to XXX. Other things may play into a score change that were not related to the actual alert and be coincidental. For instance if the account aged 6 months or a year and it coincides with an improved utilization it can be difficult to determine what the change is actually related to.

 

If you have not joined Credit Check Total you can get all three FICO scores for $1. Make sure you cancel within 7 days and they will give you the option to keep the service for $14.97/month. You can also trend your FAKO scores on Credit Karma.

 

Again welcome!

Message 4 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

A credit score wouldn't increase 46 points due to an increase in utilization.  There's without question another reason why your score increased.

Message 5 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

Hi Xynephadyn.  Welcome.

 

It sounds like you are a subscriber to the myFICO 3B Monitoring product, which gave you an alert that you are trying to describe for us.

 

The alert is describing a way your report has changed.  (In this case, one of your credit card balances went up.)  When an "alertable" event occurs, the MF 3B monitoring product pulls your score again. 

 

The message is explaining what the alertable event was.  But there are a lot of events that are not alertable.  What must have happened (with 100% certainty) is that something else changed on your report, either on the same day or in the previous several weeks.  That other thing is what is causing your score to go up.  It's just that this good thing apparently wasn't alertable, so your score wasn't pulled at the time. 

 

Again, it's really important to understand what these alerts are and what they are not.  Most of us assume that when our score changes then MF sends us an alert telling us why.  This is not what the alerts are.  What the alerts do is tell you -- in a very limited set of circumstances, not all the time -- when the report has changed.  The alert is telling you what alertable event happened.

 

You should congratulate yourself that you are coming to understand scoring well enough to realize that a credit card balance going up would be very unlikely to cause your score to go up.  (The only exception would be if all your cards were $0, and then one card went from $0 to say $50.)

 

Some people find an "alert" based system confusing and unhelpful, since it cannot be relied on (even most of the time) to explain why your score has changed.  Such people switch to a system like CCT, which enables you to control when your score is pulled or (like me) they just use free tools to get their monthly FICO score and credit reports.

 

There are many things that could have happened recently to cause your score to go up.  For example, your average age of accounts could have gone from 1.9 years to 2.1 years.  That would have been invisible to you but could have had a definite effect on your score (though perhaps not a 40 point increase).  There are many other possibilties.

 

Some things are definite gray areas in credit scoring, where nobody knows for sure how FICO is working.  But CC balances are not one of them.  All credit profiles are optimized when having most of the credit cards reporting at $0 and a small positive balance on one.  There's no possible profile that benefits from a higher utilization -- e.g. 20% or 30% say. 

 

The folks here can help you achieve the higher score you want but we'll need to ask you questions about how your credit reports look.  Let us know if you'd like to do that.  Best wishes!

 

Message 6 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

My exp score dropped today by 8 points. I paid $150 on debt and my utilization went from 19% to 9% I'm pissed. Why paying off debt is hurting my score I dont get it
Message 7 of 13
SouthJamaica
Mega Contributor

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???


@Anonymous wrote:
My exp score dropped today by 8 points. I paid $150 on debt and my utilization went from 19% to 9% I'm pissed. Why paying off debt is hurting my score I dont get it

Paying off debt didn't hurt your score. The score change and the alert are no doubt unrelated.

 

 


Total revolving limits 741200 (620700 reporting) FICO 8: EQ 701 TU 704 EX 685

Message 8 of 13
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???


@Anonymous wrote:
My exp score dropped today by 8 points. I paid $150 on debt and my utilization went from 19% to 9% I'm pissed. Why paying off debt is hurting my score I dont get it

Again, the same response to the OP in this thread applies to your inquiry as well.  Your score did not drop because of maying down utilization; you are still showing utilization and the only way you'd receive a score drop is if you paid down your balances all to 0 meaning you had 0% utilization.  The fact that your score dropped means that something else changed, not your utilization.

Message 9 of 13
805orbust
Valued Contributor

Re: EXP Score increases from 701-747 because of an 2% increase of utilization on a credit card???

Yeah, they're right. I've had the same thing happen to me with the alerts. There may have been an unrelated event that coincided with the timing of the alert. HOWEVER...

This all makes sense once you realize that all scores are FAKO. Even Fico scores. :-)


Message 10 of 13
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