Help - Credit Score Unexpectedly Dropped 39 Points

[ThaDon]

Hi all. My credit score unexpectedly dropped and I wanted to better understand why, and how I can get back to where I was.

This morning I woke up to a few credit alerts. I checked my Transunion and Equifax scores - I went from 814 to 775 overnight. Similarly my Experian went down 11 points, from 840 to 829.

My credit situation hasn’t really changed. In fact, my student loan balance is a bit less and my credit utilization is pretty much the same (have several $100k limit across a number of cards).

The only thing I can think of is that I have a Marriott Amex (which I’ve had forever). I rarely use that except for trips. The balance is usually 0 or close to it. However, thanks to recent trip that balance increase to a bit over $2000. The credit limit on this card is relatively low, just below $12,000.

Is my Marriott AMEX the reason why my score dropped?

Also, am I better off paying before the due date? Will that help increase my score? And what do I need to do to get back to where I was? If the balance goes back to where I was at zero dollars, will my credit score fully rebound?

thanks in advance

[keekers]

The balance reporting could have a negative impact on your score; even though your total CL is high, if a single card has a jump in utilization it can cost you some points. In this case, your Amex went from 0% to around 17%. The good news is that utilization doesn't have a memory with regard to FICO scores so if that gets paid down/off, your scores will rebound. Another thing to look at is if any closed accounts have aged off of your report.

[FlaDude]

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@ThaDon wrote:

The only thing I can think of is that I have a Marriott Amex (which I’ve had forever). I rarely use that except for trips. The balance is usually 0 or close to it. However, thanks to recent trip that balance increase to a bit over $2000. The credit limit on this card is relatively low, just below $12,000.

Is my Marriott AMEX the reason why my score dropped?

Also, am I better off paying before the due date? Will that help increase my score? And what do I need to do to get back to where I was? If the balance goes back to where I was at zero dollars, will my credit score fully rebound?

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That seems like a big score drop just for 16% utilization on a single card. If that is the reason for the drop, then your score should fully recover when the balance reports zero. Utilization has no memory, at least for FICO 8 scores. Note that whether you pay by the due date or not has no bearing on your credit report, you have to pay before the statement date if you want the balance to not report.