Fail !

[Captain_Morgan]

Mother of god . . what the hell is happening here?

My scores with nothing but student loans on time were:

TU = 730

Experian = 696

Equifax = 704

Now that I opened a CU Visa CC, a Target and Sears charge card, my scores have continually fell week by week to this:

TU = 673

Experian = 651

Equifax = 689

Not only have I had low balances on these accounts, I paid them off in full before they were even due!

This is what the True Credit Credit Score & Analysis says:

There are not enough revolving bank accounts on your credit report. [TransUnion, Experian, Equifax] A healthy balance of credit and loan accounts is key to achieving a high credit score. It is important to build a record of responsible credit use over time with different types of accounts. Consider opening a new account to strengthen your credit report.

There are not enough accounts in good standing on your credit report. [TransUnion, Equifax] Having credit available to you is a sign that you are able to manage your finances responsibly. Lenders like to see that consumers have a large amount of credit available to them, but not so much that they could spend more than they could afford to pay back. If you currently have multiple accounts open with high balances, try reducing your balances below 35 percent of your limits. If you do not have many open accounts, consider opening a new credit account or asking your creditors to increase your limits.

Your oldest bank revolving account has not been open long enough. [TransUnion] Time is one of the most important factors for a healthy credit score. The longer your accounts have been opened, the better they are perceived by lenders. Opening new accounts can cause your credit to appear unstable, because a record of responsible use has not yet been established for the account. Your borrowing power should improve as you keep your new accounts open, active and paid on-time.

There are too many accounts on your credit report with high balances in comparison with your credit limits. [Experian] Having credit available to you is a sign that you are able to manage your finances responsibly. Lenders like to see that consumers have a large amount of credit available to them, but not so much that they could spend more than they could afford to pay back. If you currently have multiple accounts open with high balances, try reducing your balances below 35 percent of your limits. If you do not have many open accounts, consider opening a new credit account or asking your creditors to increase your limits.

There are not enough bankcard accounts on your credit report. [Experian, Equifax] A healthy balance of credit and loan accounts is key to achieving a high credit score. It is important to build a record of responsible credit use over time with different types of accounts. Consider opening a new account to strengthen your credit report.

Keep in mind that I've had nothing late and everything is in the green and paid in full. My highest balance is 33% of the CL.

So what gives? I was better off score-wise when I actually had NO credit.

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[Denita]

Your scores have temporarily dropped because you are in a new credit 'band'. Once you have been established in this band for a while, your scores will increase. Equifax even has a monitoring service to tell you when you have crossed from one band to another! (see below)

Equifax is provided with average interest rates received for various loans by FICO® score band. Score Watch will notify you when your score crosses into a new score band, changing the interest rate you are likely to qualify for on a certain type of loan. Mortgage is the loan type default for score band monitoring. You may change the type of loan to an auto or home equity loan.

Hope this helps a little

[willingtocope]

Also, keep in mind that the scores you are allowed to see (even the actual FICO scores) are what I call the "sucker" score. It translates to "here's a sucker that credit card companies will make money charging interest and occasional late fees and overlimit penalties".

This scoring algorithm is counter intutive. The more cards you have...with balances....the higher your score. The more you use those cards, the higher the score. Recently opened, but paid, or unused cards will lower your score...but...that doesn't mean you wouldn't "qualify" for another card from somebody who wants to get in on the action.

The FAKOs, the FICO "Bank Card" score...the sucker score...predicts whether or not a CC is going to make money off you. It is not a measure of your credit worthiness.

[Captain_Morgan]

Ahh yes, the "bands", I saw a reference to that here but didnt take it in to account in this scenario.

So if I understand this correctly, if I just keep minimal balances and let them auto pay each month, eventually these scores will go up due to a track record of "always on time".

Also the accounts are very spotty about reporting to 3 bureaus. Should I be more aggressive about requesting them to report to all 3 and not just one? I've asked them all, and they say they do, but i'm not seeing it yet.

Thanks for the replies to my rant

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