Hi all,

I got my first credit card last March and have been using it like a debit in hopes of building a good credit history. I checked my credit score for the first time in Nov and was met with a 721.

"Okay cool, I haven't been doing this very long & being consistent with payments should boost my score!"

Well, nothing changed until the start of February, even though I've read that your score should be updated with each new entry in your credit history (ie every balance payment). In Feb, my score went down to 718 despite my always paying in full and on time. I checked my score again today and I'm now seeing 708.

I haven't paid a cent in interest since I got the card, nor have I ever been given overdraft charges. I have a $3000 credit limit and in Dec/Jan used over $2000 because of Christmas and other things, and I've been told that high usage negatively impacts your score. How does that make sense? I'm staying within the confines of the agreed usage of my card and in fact proving that I'm able to pay back larger and larger sums in a timely fashion. How does that suggest I'm less fit to receive loans?

I wanted to avoid another bill of >60% of my credit limit, so I paid the balance in advance about a week ago. I can't help but feel that that's what caused the 718 -> 708 dip. Again, my provider has only lost money on me because of the card's benefits and my paying my balances in full, yet my score continues to decline. I'm going to call my bank this week, but I'm wondering if anyone here might be able to comment.

Thanks in advance & best wishes!