Wowza! I am stressed about this. So my Experian FICO8 was 688 on 2/15. By 3/17 it had dropped to 674 with no new negative data (still maintaining <3% util). By 3/29 it dropped to 668 because I timed a purchase of a new laptop poorly and even though I paid the credit card off the day it hit, it got reported & made my utilization higher than 30% (that one is obviously legit). By 4/29, I was back up to 688 as a result of getting back to low credit utilization. But that drop from 688 to 674 on 3/17 (with no new negative data) was perplexing.
So I've got the 688, hear about Experian Boost & try it. It gives me a 4 point bump becasue it only recognizes my power bill (not my water bill) & I pay cell & home wifi with credit card for the cashback. Okay so 692.
Since they have the place where you can tell them of accounts they missed, I put in the info for my water bill. I thought it would rescan, but it didn't. So I guess since they are in beta, they are just collecting data for accounts to program the software for??? Anyhow, it doesn't run again, but it also doesn't tell you what to expect from giving them that info. So I thought well maybe a human assesses it and adds it to your profile, so it would be worthwhile to check back in & run the boost every once in awhile.
So that's what I did today. But when it refreshed my score, it dropped from 692 to 678. What?! No new negative info in my profile, no new inquiries, credit utilization is at 0% though b/c while I have small amounts reporting, it's only $94 total. Could that 0% be the problem?
So then I think that maybe the Experian Boost is messing things up, so I remove it & lose 4 more points (674). But I add it back in & got the 4 points back (678), so I'm thinking it's not the boost causing the problem.
I've been tracking my credit for 3 years now, so I know that Vantage is uber sensitive to credit utilization. But I've never experienced FICO8 dropping 14 points out of nowhere (692 to 678). It dropped significantly when I removed myself from my ex-husband's credit card several months ago because it badly dinged my credit age. But absolutely nothing has changed for the negative except having that 0% credit utilization (which was an accident b/c timing again reported some $0s when I usually shoot to report 3-4%).
So setting aside the boost's 4 points, I'm looking at 2 experiences of going from 688 to 674 (on 3/17) with it rebounding back to 688 then the same 14 point drop today. Is this all due to the 0% (not $0) credit utilization? If so, what utilization % should I shoot for? I've been shooting for 3.5% roughly every month. If FICO8 Experian is this sensitive to credit utilization, maybe there is an even better % for me to shoot for?
If not this, then what in the world is causing this?
Thanks in advance,
Kimberly
Thanks for your reply. But in this case, the Boost doesn't seem directly responsible for the drop. There could be something wonky going on in the background, but I did remove it then add it back with consistent bumps & drops. Plus the original 688 to 674 drop also 2 months ago before I'd even messed around with the Boost.
Kimberly
The usual explanation is revolving balances: not only is there an aggregate and an individual, there's also a count of revolvers with balances (which is a percentage of all open revolvers); in my experience on Experian you take a ding at half of your revolvers reporting a balance, and then there are higher breakpoints too on other people's datasets (I have a truly absurd number of open revolvers now so testing that is a PITA).
Appreciate the datapoint re: Boost though! I tend to agree it's not much use for people that actually have established credit.
I've never seen movement at various low revolving utilization percentage use cases on any FICO algorithm I've ever tracked personally except when I hit all zero, though I had seen some oddities in the myFICO Experian monitoring before, haven't seen that on Experian's side.
You did mention 1 AU, if there are others, those might not be counted on FICO 8 either FWIW.
Thanks Revelate. I'm assuming when you are talking about "revolvers", you're talking about credit cards with revolving balances. If so, are you saying that FICO considers balances on each individual card, all the cards together plus looks at how many of your cards have balances at all?
If so, what are they wanting to see to get the best score in regard to credit utilization? I'm in a position to manage how much is reported, so I'd like to optimize it if I can since it's the only element I have control of at the moment (waiting for derogs to drop off this fall & next spring) & just waiting out credit age.
Also do they look at month-over-month changes in balances. For example, as I mentioned I am generally letting roughly 3-4% report on each card, but on occasion I time a large purchase poorly & it gets reported. Or I'll pay a card to $0 & don't use it again before reporting so a $0 gets reported. So do you think I'm dinged for a reported balance rollercoastering over a few months?
Thanks for any insights!
Kimberly
Actually BBS answered it well for me 
.
To add a little color, I only really manage my balances either when I am prepping for an application or trying to test something (like now hah), scores bopping around as a result of balance changes isn’t a big deal but I do recommend trying it and seeing what your scores do.
.To add a little color, I only really manage my balances either when I am prepping for an application or trying to test something (like now hah), scores bopping around as a result of balance changes isn’t a big deal but I do recommend trying it and seeing what your scores do.
Exactly what I was looking for BBS ... specific levels to go for. You couldn't have said it more clearly. Thank you!
Kimberly