Let's agree that credit scoring probably has a lot of factors that affect the final score. Some say as many as 40. Yesterday, my new Target Visa 10K card showed up on Experian via Creditexpert. MY CE score rose 3 points. Nothing else changed on my Experian report. What is interesting is that... This is my 8th visa/mc. Without boring you with details, the total of my revolving accounts ( visa,mc, LOC, retail) = 15 showing on Experian. There is a general assumption that new accounts cost us points after they are open. However FICO is a complex algorithm. It will be interesting to see what the effect on my scire will be when my new Bloomingdales account shows in a few weeks. SIDE ISSUES: 1. In regard to the balance to limit ratio; it changed from 95% from 96% available credit. 4% is used. 2. There is some evidence that having only a total of 5 revolving accounts maximizes the score. I have a lot more than that and the CE score is rising. 3. I have been a critic of the CE score as I was able to measure it against the actual credit union score generated when i was granted credit in the past. CE was 701. Actual score was 728. My interim conclusion from this mixed bag of information: I think having only 5 open revolving accounts is a lot less important in the generation of a credit score than one's ratios and the other factors that make up a credit score. I have no regrets about expanding my credit at this point in my credit recovery by receiving a Target Visa card.. Jim
Hi Dave! I want to take a moment and congratulate you on your TU success from your other thread. Thanks for your info. For those of us rebuilding credit, I believe that it is important to keep in mind that limiting ourselves to 5 revolving accounts may not be in our interest. I will be closing a limited number of accounts later on. However for now, I believe that it is in my interest to be expanding credit. As a side isue, I cancelled my Creditexpert account last summer as I had no negatives left on Experian. After my success here on the board, I reopened it as I enjoy looking at my score daily. Creditnet Addict?? LOL Best regards, Jim
I had two citi cards and the target visa show up on my TU last week and lost 72 points on the TU score they give? I had no other changes and none of the total 11,000 limit has been used yet. Since this is the TU score this may be why I lost so many points? Any thoughts?
Hey Jim, Just some input, i had a $13,000 student loan just added to my equifax file and my score went up 19 pts. No idea why. I think a lot of this score stuff is related to the amount of credit you already have. In other words, if you already have 50,000 in available credit and add another $5,000 card to it, it probably will have little change. But, if you only have $3,000 in total available credit and you add another $3,000 your score will drop. This is what I have noticed with a lot of the posters here.
LKH, I think that maybe "installment" loans will garner you positive points. Think about it, if you pay that installment on time, the balance will only go down. With revolving lines, and the possibility of limit increases and maxing out the card, you could end up with ratios that are detrimental to your score. Installment, in a creditor's eyes, must be preferable: it is a fixed amount that will decrease over time--you will not overextend yourself on it. Just my thoughts. cariba
I think that is a valid point with one exception, I just saw that my TU score dropped 14 pts. with the same loan being added, although we know that the TU score is bogus.
Yes, the scores are all a crock. I am helping my mother clean up stuff on her report, and she does not think some company should be keeping a file on her. cariba
Hi LKH!!! I agree. My EX report shows $60K in revolving credit limits now with the addition of Target. A couple of these accounts contributing to the $60K are really closed but show as open. My EX score dropped from mid 600's in May 2000 to 576 in February 2001. I had added a lot of new credit in that interval and I started from a very low amount. Then my score went right back up within a few months. Jim
