So you have some extra money in your pocket and you’ve decided to pay off one of your credit card collections early. You know that credit scores are extremely important so your goal is to pay off the collection that will yield the most credit score improvement — the “FICO ROI” (return on investment).

Credit reporting bureaus continually update credit reports as they receive information from lenders. Your credit score may change with these updates as lenders add new information to your credit report but also as old information drops off your report. How updates affect your credit score can depend on your overall credit history.