[Dr. Sivana]

My suspicion: we are all being trained by frequent free access to credit scores, following “the rules” to improve scores. We are not necessarily more creditworthy, but are behaving for the “test”, holding on to old credit cards, possibly adding lightly used new accounts we don’t need, etc.

One thing I learned, was that despite the fact that I had too few open accounts, my opening an account for a large vet bill and paying it off did not help my score at all. The bureaus like mortgages, car loans, credit cards. They are NOT keen on installment loans and credit based payment plans.

[cableguymn]

They also don’t like zero balances on credit cards.. They seem happiest if you carry about 30% of the limit month to month.

[faux_hog]

"My suspicion: we are all being trained by frequent free access to credit scores, following “the rules” to improve scores. We are not necessarily more creditworthy, but are behaving for the “test”, holding on to old credit cards, possibly adding lightly used new accounts we don’t need, etc."

I agree that we are being groomed, not only to behave "correctly," but also to be de-sensitized to the reality of having no privacy.