Credit score ups and downs.I recently opened two credit card accounts with zero interest rates to do balance transfers. With the transfers, I paid off a loan I'd had for only six months. One of the new credit cards isn't even on my credit report yet, but my score dropped seven points. How is it that my score didn't budge for at least a year, then I pay off a bill and it drops seven points? Please help! --F. Brown Washington, DC It wasn't paying the bill that lowered your score; it was applying for new credit, which can be a downside Downside The dollar amount by which the market or a stock has the potential to fall. Notes: You might hear someone say that the downside on stock XYZ is $10. What that means is that the stock could fall by this amount if things got bad. with balance transfers. But, there is an upside Upside The potential dollar amount by which the market or a stock could rise. Notes: This is basically an educated guess on how high a stock could go in the near future. See also: Bull, Downside : Paying the 6-month-old loan in full should boost your score a bit. Because you applied for new credit, thereby increasing the number of queries on your report as well as the amount of credit that you can access, and because lenders consider increased credit to be a risk factor, your credit score dipped. In addition, since you've opened three new accounts within the last six months, the recent activity could also be a factor. So be careful about hopping from one credit card to the next simply for the short-term Short-term Any investments with a maturity of one year or less. short-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss on the value of an asset that has been held less than a specified period of time. interest rate. Remember, the three major reporting agencies--Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion--may report different information, so your score could be higher or lower on each of them. In time, your score will go up again, but check your report about every six months at www.myfico.com to be sure. --Tanisha A. Sykes Mail your consumer empowerment em·pow·er tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers 1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize. 2. questions to Ask Your Advocate, BLACK ENTERPRISE 130 Fifth Ave AVE Avenue AVE Average AVE Alta Velocidad Espanola (train between Madrid and Seville) AVE Alta Velocidad Española (Spanish: High Speed Train) AVE Audio Video Entertainment AVE Advertising Value Equivalent ., New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY 10011 or send an e-mail to sykest@blackenterprise.com. |
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