FICO Score "sensitivity" (Score dropped 14 points)

Anonymous · ‎02-11-2021

So I've been monitoring our scores pretty closely lately (every day on EX)...my wife's score just dropped from 755 to 741. Only changes on the report were 2 credit cards that had small balances now report 0 balances.

Could it be because FICO likes seeing some sort of balance? She still has a retail card at 28% utilization, and another card with a tiny $3 balance. Total utilization is still around 3%.

Or is it related to something else? Very frustrating to see drops for no reason lol.

thornback · ‎02-11-2021

There's always a reason for the score drops.

FICO will penalize you for having all revolving accounts report $0 balances (All Zero or AZ penalty).

The 2 cards still reporting a balance - you say one is a retail card, whats the other?

AU accounts, charge cards, some credit union cards, and non-cobranded retail cards being the only types with a balance will often result in this AZ penalty. To ensure the penalty is avoided, it is recommended to have a bankcard report a balance.

With AU cards, there appears to be a separate AZ penalty so at least one AU should always report a balance.

If the $3 card is a bankcard for which she is the primary account holder, then the score drop is probably due to something else.

Personal Aphorism:"Forget What You Feel, Remember What You Deserve"

Starting FICO 8s | 09/2017: EX 641 ✦ EQ 634 ✦ TU 647
Current FICO 8s | 04/2022: EX 796 ✦ EQ 793 ✦ TU 790
Current FICO 9s | 04/2022: EX 790 ✦ EQ 788 ✦ TU 782
2022 Goal Score | 800s

My AAoA: 4.6 years not incl. AU / 4.9 years incl. AU
My AoOA: 9.2 years not incl. AU / 11.2 years incl. AU
Inquiries: EX 0/12 ✦ EQ 0/12 ✦ TU 0/12
Report Status: Clean
Garden Status:

Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.

Anonymous · ‎02-11-2021

@thornback wrote:
There's always a reason for the score drops.

FICO will penalize you for having all revolving accounts report $0 balances (All Zero or AZ penalty).

The 2 cards still reporting a balance - you say one is a retail card, whats the other?

AU accounts, charge cards, some credit union cards, and non-cobranded retail cards being the only types with a balance will often result in this AZ penalty. To ensure the penalty is avoided, it is recommended to have a bankcard report a balance.

With AU cards, there appears to be a separate AZ penalty so at least one AU should always report a balance.

If the $3 card is a bankcard for which she is the primary account holder, then the score drop is probably due to something else.

So the card showing the $3 balance is a bankcard and she is primary account holder. In regards to the 2 other accounts that just updated to $0 balance - one was an AU and the other she was primary.

So if she's an AU on any cards, should at least one of them always show a small non-zero balance?

thornback · ‎02-11-2021

@Anonymous wrote:

So the card showing the $3 balance is a bankcard and she is primary account holder. In regards to the 2 other accounts that just updated to $0 balance - one was an AU and the other she was primary.

So if she's an AU on any cards, should at least one of them always show a small non-zero balance?

Yes. She will need to always have at least one bankcard and one AU report a balance to avoid the AZ and AZ-AU penalties.

So once her AU reports a balance (and her bankcard is reporting a balance) her lost points should be returned.

Personal Aphorism:"Forget What You Feel, Remember What You Deserve"

Starting FICO 8s | 09/2017: EX 641 ✦ EQ 634 ✦ TU 647
Current FICO 8s | 04/2022: EX 796 ✦ EQ 793 ✦ TU 790
Current FICO 9s | 04/2022: EX 790 ✦ EQ 788 ✦ TU 782
2022 Goal Score | 800s

My AAoA: 4.6 years not incl. AU / 4.9 years incl. AU
My AoOA: 9.2 years not incl. AU / 11.2 years incl. AU
Inquiries: EX 0/12 ✦ EQ 0/12 ✦ TU 0/12
Report Status: Clean
Garden Status:

Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.

Anonymous · ‎02-11-2021

@thornback wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

So the card showing the $3 balance is a bankcard and she is primary account holder. In regards to the 2 other accounts that just updated to $0 balance - one was an AU and the other she was primary.

So if she's an AU on any cards, should at least one of them always show a small non-zero balance?
Yes. She will need to always have at least one bankcard and one AU report a balance to avoid the AZ and AZ-AU penalties.

So once her AU reports a balance (and her bankcard is reporting a balance) her lost points should be returned.

Thanks for the input. She's an AU on most of my accounts and fortunately I have time to charge something small on one of the cards before it updates this month. FICO scores are so silly to have to go through these hoops to get the highest score lol.

thornback · ‎02-11-2021

@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the input. She's an AU on most of my accounts and fortunately I have time to charge something small on one of the cards before it updates this month. FICO scores are so silly to have to go through these hoops to get the highest score lol.

Please report back to confirm her points were returned after an AU reports. The more data points we have, the better - thats the only way we are able to figure out the mess that is FICO.

It is silly - lol. But you figure the majority of the public has no idea all of these little idiosyncrasies exists and remain unaffected because they're not obsessively checking their scores everyday. You'll eventually get to the point to where temporary 10-15 point drops like this dont phase you-- once you understand the scoring system more and are able to immediately determine why it happened and how easily it can be reversed, it won't bother you as much. You may even stop micromanaging at some point 🙃

Personal Aphorism:"Forget What You Feel, Remember What You Deserve"

Starting FICO 8s | 09/2017: EX 641 ✦ EQ 634 ✦ TU 647
Current FICO 8s | 04/2022: EX 796 ✦ EQ 793 ✦ TU 790
Current FICO 9s | 04/2022: EX 790 ✦ EQ 788 ✦ TU 782
2022 Goal Score | 800s

My AAoA: 4.6 years not incl. AU / 4.9 years incl. AU
My AoOA: 9.2 years not incl. AU / 11.2 years incl. AU
Inquiries: EX 0/12 ✦ EQ 0/12 ✦ TU 0/12
Report Status: Clean
Garden Status:

Without patience, we will learn less in life. We will see less. We will feel less. We will hear less. Ironically, rush and more usually mean less.