Zero Account Balance - Score Decrease??

[Francesco]

Yesterday, I received a notification showing my Equifax score went up to 807 as one of my credit card balances went down to zero.  Today, I received notification that my last credit card with a balance was paid down to zero.  I've paid all my credit cards to zero.  They decreased my score from 807 to 797.  ???  Does Equifax give you a higher score for maintaining a smalll but a lower utilization versus a zero balance?  Thank you.

[BigBS]

Yes, the ideal plan is to have all cards except one report zero and have that 1 card report between < 9/10%, YMMV.

[Francesco]

Thank you.  That is what I always figured.  This month was essentially a test to see the cause and effect. 

YMMV?

Additional Information - I just checked my Experian score.  Same scenerio as my last message.  In this case I had two credit cards with low utilization that are now zero.  My Experian score dropped from 812 to 798.

The test won't work for TransUnion today as one of the credit card balances hasn't come off.   I suspect this one will drop in the same ranges as the other two.

It looks like it is time to charge up to 9% on one of my cards this month. :-)

Thanks again.