It's no secret that credit card companies have been lowering credit limits and closing accounts in these uncertain times. The mystery is what happens to a person's credit score when credit limits are slashed ?

In a study hot off the presses, Minneapolis-based FICO credit score maker Fair Isaac found such cuts have minimal impact on most consumers' credit scores.

The study focused on the 24 million consumers who didn't do a darn thing wrong and had their credit limits reduced anyway. This group had a median FICO score of 760. Their credit was reduced an average of $5,100. They generally pay their bills on time and have low balances.

The findings:

  • FICO observed a drop in score for only a third of the people in this group, an estimated 8.5 million consumers, with the typical score drop well under 20 points.
  • Of the remaining 15.5 million consumers, the company found that an estimated 3.5 million had no appreciable change in FICO score.
  • Scores for the remaining 12 million consumers actually increased after their credit line had been lowered.

Look for a full story tomorrow. In the meantime, go out to dinner, see District 9 or Ponyo for me, crack open a beer, or catch up on the sleep you lost fretting about your credit score.

Here's the link to the full story, which explains that FICO conducted this study to answer the question of what happens to no risk customers who do nothing wrong and still have their credit limit lowered by creditors.