When will FICO fix the problem scoring tradelines with no credit limits?

[Anonymous]

You know, this issue has been around long enough. 

Amex charge cards don't report credit limits.  And Capital One doesn't report credit limits.

So Fair Isaac scores these tradelines as if the high balance was the credit limit.

Well this is retarded.  These accounts could be flagged somehow to not be included in your score.

Or they could use a hidden arbitrary limit of $25000 if one is not provided.

Whichever, it seems like they should have been able to figure this out by now, especially since Amex has been issuing charge cards since 1958!.   How about an announcement of a solution, FICO?

[haulingthescoreup]

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leggo wrote:

You know, this issue has been around long enough. 

Amex charge cards don't report credit limits.  And Capital One doesn't report credit limits.

So Fair Isaac scores these tradelines as if the high balance was the credit limit.

Well this is retarded.  These accounts could be flagged somehow to not be included in your score.

Or they could use a hidden arbitrary limit of $25000 if one is not provided.

Whichever, it seems like they should have been able to figure this out by now, especially since Amex has been issuing charge cards since 1958!.   How about an announcement of a solution, FICO?

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Capital One has reported credit limits for more than a year now.

AmEx charge cards are reported properly on FICO EQ and EX. The TU version is in the process of being updated, and when it is, it will also treat them properly.

Signature and World cards with no pre-set limit aren't treated properly because the CCC's won't code them properly. The codes exist to make them report correctly, but no one has yet managed to get the CCC's to do so for more than a month or two.

[Anonymous]

Hauling,

Thanks for the update. I wasn't aware they fixed this, nor Capital One has changed their practices.  Cool.

Didn't think about the Visa Signature cards.  They just can't win, can they?

So how did they fix this problem? 

Another peeve of mine is EX doesn't have an "open account" category like EQ & TU do.

They treat Amex charge cards not as open accounts but as revolving accounts. 

I guess EX didn't want to play ball with EQ & TU on this.

On a side note, it seems like all the CCC are pulling EX for hard inquiries at a ratio of about 10:1

Everyone seems to be using EX and leaving EQ and TU in the dust.

Inquiries:  EX=13; EQ=1; TU=3

Scores: EQ=802 ; EX=771; TU=776

Message Edited by leggo on 11-16-2008 09:17 PM

[haulingthescoreup]

They really haven't with the Signatures and Worlds, which is just maddening. It's how the banks code the cards.

For those with incredibly strong willpower, what you do is you get the highest charge you can stand (and that they will allow) on a Signature/World card, let it post, and then pay it off. What these cards do is use the highest reported balance as the CL to calculate util, so if you can stand to have some outrageous figure report, this will do the trick.

You might be able to get the bank/CCC to to an intra-cycle update showing that you paid your bill, so that you don't have to look at a 100% util displaying for a month (not to mention having other creditors see it). I'd hate to lean on that though.

The other alternative is to pay in full before the balance posts, so that a string of $0 balances post, month after month after month.

[Anonymous]

The other alternative is to pay in full before the balance posts, so that a string of $0 balances post, month after month after month.

This is how I keep my revolving utilization at ZERO. 

Shhhh.  Don't tell everyone or they'll change the scoring model.

[Anonymous]

leggo,

In most, but not all cases, you would be better served to let a small balance report - I find 3 percent or under works best for me.

[laz98]

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leggo wrote: 

On a side note, it seems like all the CCC are pulling EX for hard inquiries at a ratio of about 10:1

Everyone seems to be using EX and leaving EQ and TU in the dust.

Inquiries:  EX=13; EQ=1; TU=3

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you aren't kidding!  my EQ & EX scores took quite a beating with my last little app spree.  

[Anonymous]

Ok, I've got the answer directly from the horse.

I called the customer service line today and was xfrd to a supervisor who was very polite, btw, and explained to me how Amex charge cards are calculated in the score.

The high balance figure does not have anything to do with utilization. They cannot calculate utilization if there is no credit line.

They take the sum of all your balances /  the sum of all your credit lines = utilization.

Since Amex has a balance but no credit line, it is added to the numerator but not the denominator - as long as your balance is below $30k.  

If your balance is above $30k, it is not added to your total balances.

I asked her about special coding accounts as mentioned by previous poster.  She said there is no special coding that goes on.  Huh.....

[haulingthescoreup]

So was this a myFICO CSR/ supe, or American Express, or one of the CRA's? This is something new.

And btw, the special coding I referred to up above was for Signature and World cards. Nothing to do with AmEx.