Comments on: How to Improve a Good Credit Score

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:10:51 +0000

The utilization rate reported is not based on day to day use. You could charge $2k on a $4K card. If you pay it off before they report to the CCA’s, it will report as 0%, instead of 50%.

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:50:57 +0000

When you say credit utilization is not based on month to month debt, but is based on your statements, what does that mean? your statement is a snapshot of your month to month debt, so what you said makes no sense.

For example let’s say my current temporary credit usage of an account is 9500 dollars and the statement date is coming up in 5 days. I pay that 9500 dollars off before the statement is printed on their end, and fool the report into thinking I have 0 dollar balance by paying it off just before they print the statement.

Is this going to help or not? They track how much credit you use up, regardless of your statement balance? Or not?

By: shortsalesafe

shortsalesafe — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:22:43 +0000

Credit scores are the most important aspect that determines your financial future. Carrying a good credit score is an asset and can pave your future towards green pasture. Thanks for sharing such a informative article here. Keep it Up.

By: lisa

lisa — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:06:05 +0000

You should bear in mind that Credit Karma is not a true FICO score (it’s a FAKO) and therefore the report card is not using the same criteria that are considered in your actual FICO score. I use Credit Karma to track my general score trend for free over time, but my purchased FICO score from TransUnion is 11 points lower than my Credit Karma score, even though they are both TransUnion products. Just one example is that actual FICO scores are barely affected by credit inquiries, but this is a major negative on the Credit Karma report card.

By: eric

eric — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:14:42 +0000

Yup, once I hit the top tiers, I just stopped worrying so much. Some people are obsessed over one or two points.

By: jsbrendog

jsbrendog — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 22:27:44 +0000

asking for a credit increase would help too by improving your utilization, as long as you are sure that there is no hard inquiry to do so. it varies by card companies. this also assumes that even if you get a credit increase you do not change spending habits.

By: Shariff

Shariff — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:07:33 +0000

Yes and No. Yes because You are showing Credit leaders you are Responsible with Paying you bills (on time). You have to be careful using your credit line to much. No because you are using them to much, Just be careful and Never max them out.

By: pmulroy

pmulroy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:15:39 +0000

There isn’t much to do, there is no shortcut. Just pay your creditors under the terms you agreed to and wait for time to go by. That is the the only way to get your score up.

By: lostAnnfound

lostAnnfound — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:49:50 +0000

AMEX cancelled an account last spring/summer (2009) for lack of use (hadn’t used it in years) and my score dropped 20+ points (I believe it was 28) according to Credit Karma and as of last week was still at the lower score. Even so, I am still in the highest tier, which truthfully is not an issue because I am not planning on incurring any debt, just paying off debt I have. But it seems unfair to me that I get “penalized” even though I did nothing wrong per se.

What if I was planning on getting mortgage or car loan? Would the lender see that the account has been closed recently on my credit report? Would they know that it had been closed due to lack of use or would that even matter?

By: Wilma

Wilma — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:31:46 +0000

So how long till your score goes back up after a hard inquiry or CC cancelation?

By: billsnider

billsnider — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:33:46 +0000

There is a pretty good explanation about FICO on Wikapedia. I think it answers most questions I see asked here.

My opinion is to pay off all debt on time and keep away from things such as bounced checks, late payments and other crazy stuff like that and it will all work out.

Bill Snider

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:23:47 +0000

Yep, and avoid the bad stuff.

By: zapeta

zapeta — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:13:52 +0000

I’m in the same boat as you Jim, the items that are holding my score down are age of accounts and the number of recent inquiries. The only thing I can do is wait as the inquiries fall off and the age of accounts increases.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:09:47 +0000

I’ve heard similar points made about your first two thoughts but nothing definitive.

I’ve also advocated your third thought, consolidating accounts at the same issuer. This lets you keep the utilization and close the account, limiting the damage. Again, this isn’t backed with hard data but it makes sense intuitively.

By: govenar

govenar — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:42:40 +0000

There’s some other intricacies I wonder about related to closing an account and average age:
- Some people say that closed accounts are included in the average age calculation (not sure if FICO has said officially whether they do), and a closed account will stay on your credit report for around 10 years. So the average age might not be affected for 10 years.
- If you have newer accounts, or open new ones later, then at some point in the future the current “newer” accounts will become older than the average, and actually help the average age.
- What if you move the credit limit from the card being closed to another card from the same issuer (though some won’t allow it)? Then your overall utilization isn’t hurt, the utilization of the other card could improve, and your average limit is higher (which could maybe help your score, but not sure).