First things first…if something is not on your credit reports then it has no direct impact on your FICO scores. Credit bureau scores only take into account items that are actually on your credit reports. So, things like interest rates, whether you pay in full or you “revolve” a balance from one month to the next, if you pay early or just by the due date, how your account was acquired, how much your annual is, and how much you pay in other fees are not going to have any direct impact on your scores.
Historical balances are an interesting one because you’d think that they would, in fact, be considered by credit scoring systems. You’d be wrong though. The credit reporting agencies do not maintain what’s called “time series data” in such a way that it can be fed into a credit score. So, regardless of what your balances were 2 months ago…what counts is only what’s on your credit file as of today.
Conversely, the monthly payment amount is on your credit reports (unless the lender chooses to not report is). But, despite the fact that your monthly payment amount is on your credit reports it is not considered in your FICO score.
Historical balances are an interesting one because you’d think that they would, in fact, be considered by credit scoring systems. You’d be wrong though. The credit reporting agencies do not maintain what’s called “time series data” in such a way that it can be fed into a credit score. So, regardless of what your balances were 2 months ago…what counts is only what’s on your credit file as of today.
Conversely, the monthly payment amount is on your credit reports (unless the lender chooses to not report is). But, despite the fact that your monthly payment amount is on your credit reports it is not considered in your FICO score.
