TransUnion: Huge Drop After Balance Transfers (utlization is 25%)

[Horseshoez]

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@chaser7091 wrote:

I subscribe to both the Experian and TransUnion apps; pay their monthly subscriptions.  I check Experian few times a week and Transunion few times a month.

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Your TransUnion scores are essentially worthless; they are not FICO scores, they are Vantage 3.0 scores which are ignored by basically 95% of the credit world out there.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@CYBERSAM wrote:

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@chaser7091 wrote:

Hello,  my TransUnion dropped from 760 to 612.  Only change that occured was transferring some of 26k BOA Visa balance as followed...

• Transfer 15k to....
  • $5000 onto one active citibank card (not a new card) with a 5K limit
  • $10000 onto another active citibank card (not a new card) with a 10k limit
• BOA Visa Card balance was then 11,000
• Experian crashed from 750 to 700
• Bank of America then recorded the 15,000 reduction
• Experian rose from 700 to 720
• Transunion only rose from 612 to 621

Im perplexed at why Transunion tanked when my credit utlization remains as it was before at 25% and I did not apply for any new cards or credit.  Experian tanked it too but not as bad, but to go from Very Good to fair almost poor with TransUnion is like WTH?

Appreicate thoughts!

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@chaser7091  Are you saying you actually maxed out your total CL on those two cards? If so that is a huge NO, NO...

I would move the balance out ASAP before you see more adverse action taking against your existing cards.

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^ Agree with the above.

Instantly maxing out 2 credit cards is a huge red flag. That is why your score dropped like a rock. You did exactly the opposite of what one should do to improve credit score. A 100% utilization level is bad to the bone. Try to get the card UTs below 80% soon.

VantageScore and Fico algorithms look at individual credit card utilizations in addition to aggregate. For individual cards Fico specifically scores based on the one with the highest % utilization. Not sure how VS looks at multiple high UT cards but, it penalizes more heavily than Fico.

[NYC_Fella]

Yet another DP. I accidentaly forgot to PIF a card with a $24K balance on a $25K CL and my scores dropped an average of 70 points even though my overall utilization was just around 17%.

[Shooting-For-800]

Your scores are based on your total utilization AND your utilization on each card.

They don't have to all be the same ratio, but I would not ever go over 68% on any card for more than a month.

JMO.

GL!

[titancylinder]

Hello,

Welcome to the forums!

Honestly, with that kind of displacement, you should have just got a personal loan. Installment loans are treated differently from revolving debt, and so long as you keep the debt off the cards, you will likely see an additional improvement in your credit score overall. 

My rule of thumb is never max out a credit card. Even on zero percent interest balance transfer offers, I never recommend maxing out a card. In fact, I wouldn't go over 29% on any card and aggregate. Ideally, aim to be below 10% across the board. 

I would wait for everything to update, then try to get a personal loan, preferably through a CU.

Just my two cents!

[Thomas_Thumb]

Cards at a utilization of 80% and above are considered maxed out. That increases the risk of adverse action.

For those wanting to take advantage of 0% APR promo rates, with minimal risk of AA, stay under 79% UT. Stay under 49% UT if a substantial score drop is a concern. That being said, many high aggregate CL profiles won't experience a significant score drop if a card jumps to the 50% to 79% UT range. Why? Because the high aggregate CL can keep the aggregate UT% relatively low.

[SouthJamaica]

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@chaser7091 wrote:

I subscribe to both the Experian and TransUnion apps; pay their monthly subscriptions.  I check Experian few times a week and Transunion few times a month.

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Welcome to the forum.

That TU score is not a FICO score, it is a Vantage 3.0 score. Those are (a) susceptible to large swings and (b) meaningless in the greater scheme of things.