Fico Score Dropped Balance Decrease?

[Anonymous]

Anyone care to elaborate why my score would drop such a hefty amount for a balance decrease?

I can guarantee I have no random inquiries behind the scenes. My utilization dropped to 0 on the Amex that I paid the 1179 and the account listed that updated is a credit limit increase with no inquiry.

Stats are as follows:

Wells Fargo PL (2012) $6500 CL | 0 Util

Macys  (2013) $5300 CL --> raised to $15000 with soft inquiry on macy's website | 0 Util

Amex Blue ED (2015) $10400 CL Update as of 3/7 $20000 CL | paid down 1179 to 0 Util

Comenity (Express 2016) SL 1000, CLI to 1750 in Feb CLI to 2500 in March (box unchecked to check credit report) | 0 Util

Cap1 Neiman (2017) $3000 CL just increased to $7000 | 0 Util

Amnz Prime Chase (2017) $8000 CL | 0 Util

AAoA is 2 Years 7 Months 

Just checked inquiries on Equifax credit report and can confirm there is nothing new.

Any insight?

[Anonymous]

$0 balance across all accounts = penalty points. Was Amex the only account with a balance?

[Anonymous]

Yes. I usually only let my Amex report, I pay everything else off before reporting.

What happened is the day I got the CLI to 20K, I got an email from chase raising the dining cash back to 5% so I paid off Amex and started using Chase card to build some history with them as I have the CSP or R in my sights in the near future. 

Had no idea that 0 across board is that bad, should've let Amazon Chase report before paying off Amex.

Is it better to have 1 card reporting then paying in full after report, or a few reporting and paying in full every month? Is there a specific Util i should be aiming for?

Thanks for the insight!

[Anonymous]

If you're asking me, I think unless you're about to apply for a major loan, micromanaging UTI/AZEO is a complete waste of money, time and effort, especially for someone with decent CLs across the board such as yourself. In my opinion the best practice is to let all charges post to statement, set your CC autopay to pay the full statement balance on or few days before due day, take full advantage of the grace period by keeping your money in high yield savings for as long as you can, with the option to make extra payments when large purchases are made to keep aggregate/individual UTI under 29%. You can then micromanage it to where you want it to be the cycle prior to applying for new credit, no need to maintain it at all times as the extra points aren't going anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Ever since my first credit card at age 18, Ive always just used my 1 credit card with the highest limit and paid off in full. Its just recently I have been testing AZEO. I havent paid a single cent in interest to date and I'm 24. I have my monthly subscriptions spread out across the wells fargo card and Amex just to show useage like netflix, spotify etc. I guess ill go back to that then cause my limits and credit scores are pretty solid. Got pretty scared when I saw the huge drop. 

Thank you for your valuable contribution!

[Anonymous]

No problem

[Anonymous]

To avoid that score drop, just leave $5 left on the account to report when you pay it off.  Instead of $1179, pay $1174, for example.  That $5 will report and be added to next month, then just leave $5 there again next month.  You won't be paying any interest on that $5 because you'll be paying it off as part of your next statement balance.  No interest paid and your scores will be 13-17 points (judging from your alerts pictured) higher, which will make you happy.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Brutal, ill keep this in mind! TU took a hit today 21 points for the same reason :/

[Anonymous]

Ghostly, what subscription service are you using? It's pretty neat that you get all those alerts on all your reports. And how much is it per month?

[Anonymous]

@frencheese its $30 a month, the subscription is offered on this website (myfico) and it provides all of your true FICO scores from all 3 bureaus.