My balance increased and more Fico CS increased

[Anonymous]

Hi,

My balance for Capitol One increased by $3.  My reported balance for last month was $3 and for this month it reported at $6.  I just got an alert that my balance increased.  When I checked it also says that my credit score increased by 11 points.  What is going on???  I'm happy but I was expecting it to decrease because my balance increased.  

[HeavenOhio]

The balance change had nothing to do with the score increase. Something aged. Inquiries may have become unscorable, or you might have crossed an account age threshold.

[Kforce]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

The balance change had nothing to do with the score increase. Something aged. Inquiries may have become unscorable, or you might have crossed an account age threshold.

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+1,   Not related

I do believe that the "Moon Phase" plays a factor in the "Fico Scores" however !   

[Anonymous]

That's what I'm thinking now.  Thank you

[zerofire]

I can safely state that $3 change will not cause an 11 point increase on FICO. 1 point maybe but not 11. You would have to have very small CL's for the points to change drasticly and normally it would go down if utilization increased. Your score was most likely affected by something else on your account such as a removal of an inquiry or two.

[Anonymous]

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@zerofire

I can safely state that $3 change will not cause an 11 point increase on FICO. 1 point maybe but not 11.

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While it's not the case with the OP, it's perfectly possible (although not likely) that a $3 balance change could result in an 11 point increase on a FICO score.  In fact, I'd say that's actually more likely than seeing a 1 point change, as a 1 point change on most if not all profiles is quite unlikely due to a reported balance change.

Say someone has exactly 1 CC with a $300 limit.  Their reported balance is $87.30.  The following month, they report a balance of $84.30, a $3 decrease.  This change would go from 29.1% utilization to 28.1% utilization, crossing the 28.9% threshold.  Such a change could certainly increase a score by 11 points (probably a little more, actually).  The chances of the numbers working out this perfectly to make it happen are of course very slim, but it is possible with a balance change as small as $3.