A little known timing trick?

[AAAArt]

Receently reading a promo for a a book which advertises "a little know timing trick that will improve your credit scores 15-30 points a month. Does anyone know what this refers to. My assumption is that it is something like paying your bills on time, early or making above minimum payments, but I wondered if anyone knew for sure.
BTW, I recently read a review on Amazon re: a book about 38 tips on improving your credit scores. According to the reviewer, one of the things it hyped was "the worst thing you can do to hurt your credit scores" The answer was supposedly one sentence...don't be late paying your credit card bills.
I don't want to pay $12.95 for this book that tells me how to improve my credit scores 15 - 30 points a month and have it say something like, "Pay your bills on time," so I thought I'd ask here. Thanks, Art

[highhopes]

if you know the day your creditors closing date or reporting date. You can optimize your score by having low utilization (under 10%, more than 0%) on that day and thats what they will report to the CRA's. This will make your score higher.

[StaciMM]

My guess is that Highhopes is right. I hear utilization is important, so if you pay down your balance before the monthly billing cycle ends, that will help. I think 50% plus is BAD, 30% is a good goal to aim for, and 7-17% is ideal. (I read that if you're at 0% and applying for something major, it sets off a red flag, like you're trying to make your score better just for that.)

You want to keep each card at low utilization. Having one card maxed out and all others with no balances will hurt your score, even though the overall may be low.

[Lightning]

This is a myth. You cannot do something "magical" to raise your score 15-30 points a month. The truth is that no one knows the actual FICO formula. Every financial analyst. If a personal could actually methodically raise their score like this, no one would have a low score, and this book would be sold out and all over the media.

If you want a good credit score, pay your bills on time. Paying minimum payments or any interest on a credit card will not improve your score any faster than paying in full will.

It also makes sense not to have high balance in relation to your limit even if you pay it off every month since your credit report is a snapshot, not a video, of your history. If you have a $1,000 limit and routinely charge $900 a month and pay it off in full, at any given time, a company can pull your report and see a 90% credit line utilization.

[AAAArt]

Lightning, I never "said" that there was a magic cure. However, you dismiss the idea of utilizatiion as a myth and then recommend it. And I never suggested or implied that it was something you could do "to raise your scores 15-30 points every month" This "tip" was mentioned in a review of a book on Amazon. I did not buy the book. BUT, the tip was never intended to be "methodical" or would work month after month.
It does seem to make sense that utilization is "factor" in FICO scores. Not everyone can reduce their debt ratio by a significant percentage "every" month. Either we don't have the money, the discipline or soon we would be down to zero balances.
No one knows how your FICO score is determined? Well through experiences we all have learned some ways which increase our FICO score. As you stated, paying your bills on time every month is the best method. As to saying "No one" you are a little overstated on that. Surely some people at Fair Isaac Co. "know" And, IMHO, some people have, through training, job experience, dealing w/ numerous people, have made at least "educated guesses" about what works and what doesn't and have seen certain factors work. Although this is too often presented as hype to sell books and seminars, if you are willing to wade through the hype (and can do so at little cost) then, it seems to me that you are actually closer to "scientifc theory" experiments than to mystical magical cures.
Yes, a lot of the info which is being sold is "hype" much more than meat.
however, by reading and researching (and again IMHO, an excellent source is the free 20 page PDF which you can print our at myfico.com and appears to have been compiled by Fair Isaac) you CAN learn things to do and what not to do (for example, we KNOW that your score can and will be lowered by too many credit inquiries. I happen to have that one in writing.)
As for paying the more than the minimums, I respectfully disagree with your opinion for 3 reasons.
1. Some companies actually report "Pays more than minimum".
2. It lowers your utilization ratio more than minimum payts. provided you are not going deeper in debt each month.
3. Most cc companies will raise your limits sooner and higher if you pay more than the minimum...thus lowering your utilization ratio.
And finally, we are all, hopefully, mature and intelligent enough to know that paying our bills on time and allowing time to take it's course are absolutely necessary.
The fact that most of us are concerned about rebuilding our credit and our lives should be a cause for rejoicing and give us a sense of hope. For most of us, I believe that it is not just to get cc's and run up lots more debt so that we can file BK again. It is so that we can utilize our "fresh start" as soon as possible, to it's fullest extent and to get rid of those black marks ASAP.
You have been around a long time and I'm sure have been a help to many people, even when what you said was not what they wanted to hear at the time.
I think it would be a wonderful gesture on your part to use you knowledge in a more supportive tone, as you did in your last paragraph.
Thanks for your input. Art

[Genenco]

Receently reading a promo for a a book which advertises "a little know timing trick that will improve your credit scores 15-30 points a month. Does anyone know what this refers to. My assumption is that it is something like paying your bills on time, early or making above minimum payments, but I wondered if anyone knew for sure.
BTW, I recently read a review on Amazon re: a book about 38 tips on improving your credit scores. According to the reviewer, one of the things it hyped was "the worst thing you can do to hurt your credit scores" The answer was supposedly one sentence...don't be late paying your credit card bills.
I don't want to pay $12.95 for this book that tells me how to improve my credit scores 15 - 30 points a month and have it say something like, "Pay your bills on time," so I thought I'd ask here. Thanks, Art

Art, here's a simple method (One I thought Lighting would have mentioned snidely) that will cut costs of buying certian "One use books" hit up the library in your town, they often purchase books which people don't want to buy and loan them out.

I have read many books on things that interested me and by utlizing them, I saved a few thousands and learned new stuff.

[tinroofrusted]

This is a myth. You cannot do something "magical" to raise your score 15-30 points a month. The truth is that no one knows the actual FICO formula. Every financial analyst. .

This is absolutely true, and it should be illegal. I feel that because they are keeping information on private citizens (whether they want them to or not) then the credit bureaus should be forced to disclose how they determine a credit score.

[MTG_BANKER_OH]

FICO scores and its variants are designed to measure the risk of default, by taking into account various weighted factors:

35% punctuality of payment in the past
30% capacity used, i.e., ratio of current revolving debt (e.g. credit card balances) to total available revolving credit (e.g. credit limits)
15% length of credit history
10% types of credit used (installment, revolving)
10% amount of credit obtained in the recent past

[tinroofrusted]

FICO scores and its variants are designed to measure the risk of default, by taking into account various weighted factors:

35% punctuality of payment in the past
30% capacity used, i.e., ratio of current revolving debt (e.g. credit card balances) to total available revolving credit (e.g. credit limits)
15% length of credit history
10% types of credit used (installment, revolving)
10% amount of credit obtained in the recent past

Do you have a source for this? Even calling the companies, they say that they do not disclose that information to the public.

I understand that FAKO's use this to determine credit scores, but my understanding is that the credit companies themselves, have not, nor will not, disclose the method to determining a credit score.

Thanks.

[AAAArt]

Do you have a source for this? Even calling the companies, they say that they do not disclose that information to the public.

I understand that FAKO's use this to determine credit scores, but my understanding is that the credit companies themselves, have not, nor will not, disclose the method to determining a credit score.

Thanks.

I'm not him, but one source for this is the free 20 page PDF download available at www.myfico.com run by Fair Isaac Co. Art

[tinroofrusted]

AAArt, that's great, but if you'll look, it clearly gives ESTIMATES on what is used to determine your score. "About" does not mean the same as "this is."

[AAAArt]

AAArt, that's great, but if you'll look, it clearly gives ESTIMATES on what is used to determine your score. "About" does not mean the same as "this is."

Very true.

[robivi3]

If you have a monthly monitoring service you will find that your score does vary by individual CRA. Sometimes yes, it will have a 30 point margin one month to the next. if you pay the balance before the CC Co. makes there monthly or quarterly report it will raise your score. Depending upon the balance and number of cards you have. It is not "magical". It is a simple matter of keeping available credit about 50% of the limit. And yes, doing so can raise your score 30 points or more if you start doing it.

However, once you do that you will reach a plateau at some point. Remember alot of things only go away with time, but time is not the only thing that "heals" your report. These are not "tricks" or "magic", if it was we would wave a wand and all would be well. These are just simple things that you can do to keep your score up. A Credit Inquiry is about 10-15 points, keep them down, House, Car, One CC, dire emergencies only for credit. Keeping low balances with high limits is a plus and keep inquiries down.

Paying the CC in full will DEFINITELY increase the score. I DID IT. However that being said and because i have to repeat this you will hit a platuea. In other words you are not going to go 580-610-640-670-700-730-760-790-820-bingo! I went from I think 569 on one CRA after discharge in 5/2004. After getting nearly everything corrected, one or two more items left to go, I am hovering around 680 on all three. Yes it does fluctuate a little each month for whatever reason.

If the book you are talking about is called 4knowledge it is a good common sense guide to dealing with the CRA's. I highly recommend it. And everything being said, just sideline the CC's and keep them low anyway, less headaches!

[highhopes]

I forgot to mention that you can gain a lot of points (of course it varies) by having someone with a long unblemished history with excellent utilizatin add you as a Authorized user and this will give you an instant boost to your score.

If say a grandparent adds you as a Auth User of say Sears or a Visa or Mastercard account and they have had the card for 25 yrs and they have a CL of 30k utilization is at or below 10% never late. This will maximize your score by at least 15 to 100 pts. This is very possible. Your report will gain their 25yrs of on time payments. Now, this helped my DH so he had a high 600 but he had no credit of his own, he still didn't get any approvals, based on his credit alone, this metheod is best used when you are also building your own credit as well.

[MTG_BANKER_OH]

Do you have a source for this? Even calling the companies, they say that they do not disclose that information to the public.

I understand that FAKO's use this to determine credit scores, but my understanding is that the credit companies themselves, have not, nor will not, disclose the method to determining a credit score.

Thanks.

This is the material that my credit bureau company (CBC) had given to us on how the agencies report.