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3 months ago, my credit score took a massive dip. The consensus was that this happened because I no longer had any credit cards and thus no revolving debt.

So I went out and got myself a new credit and I made sure that it reported to the credit agencies. This was the result:

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Obviously the biggest change is the Experian score. In January, when I didn't have any revolving debt, the Experian score dropped by 30 points. Today, it went up by over a 100. I dutifully compared the January and March credit reports and other than this new credit card, everything is absolutely the same.

The Equifax score is also a bit baffling. It also dropped in January, but went up double the drop in March. Transunion is the most consistent of all - the peaks and valleys are easy to understand.

So, can someone tell me why all these perturbations are happening? Everything I read states that the scores should be predictable.

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    Your credit score is quite good, so don't worry about the changes. Since you say you "no longer had credit cards and thus no revolving debt", I suspect that you were carrying a balance for a while and had managed to pay it off, perhaps under guidance from a debt counselor (who often as a first step insist on NO CREDIT CARDS). If so, and you have gone out and acquired a new credit card now that you are debt-free, don't fall back into your old habits, pay off your credit card IN FULL (not just the minimum required payment) every month, and your credit score will improve even more.
    – Dilip Sarwate
    Mar 12, 2012 at 10:52
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    How did you generated the chart? What's the service called?
    – kenorb
    Sep 10, 2014 at 16:55

1 Answer 1

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Scoring is based on:

  • Length of oldest credit account on file
  • Debt / Credit Line Ratio
  • Payment History

What you're seeing here is how the various credit agencies weight the debt/credit ratio and current payment history. Also note that your situation is somewhat exceptional, which explains the rapid shift.

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