1% UTL better than 9% or same?

[twist7d7]

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@avv7c0 wrote:
In that last situation, you'd be penalized for having balances on multiple cards.

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only one card would report a balance in thos situations. i was asking how much ballance i could report.

[avv7c0]

Oh sorry, I didn't see the "or" for the 252 balance. The 1-9% is total util across all cards, but you'll also want to ensure that whichever card you report that the $252 for example is not more than the individual FICO threshold for a single card. I think you see a score drop at 40%, 60% and 90%, but these are just generalities based on what we see... Not set in stone.

Also, as stated, everyone has their own sweet spot for their unique credit profile. I have to keep my reported balance at 11% in order to see the best score. My score drops with anything below that. So you'll have to experiment.

[twist7d7]

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@avv7c0 wrote:
Oh sorry, I didn't see the "or" for the 252 balance. The 1-9% is total util across all cards, but you'll also want to ensure that whichever card you report that the $252 for example is not more than the individual FICO threshold for a single card. I think you see a score drop at 40%, 60% and 90%, but these are just generalities based on what we see... Not set in stone.

Also, as stated, everyone has their own sweet spot for their unique credit profile. I have to keep my reported balance at 11% in order to see the best score. My score drops with anything below that. So you'll have to experiment.

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This is going to kill me. i wish credit was simple 

[takeshi74]

It is fairly simple: 30% max, ~10% ideal.  Instead of relying on specific balances keep the percentages in mind.

[Anonymous]

As other posters on this thread have stated, it is unique to each of us. I have experimented and my best amount is 1.5% based on a thick file. Why, I don't know but over two years of playing with it keeps on yielding the same amount of utilization generates my highest scores. It is certainly possible this will change as my file changes. There is a lot written about FICO buckets and utilization on this website. You may want to explore other threads. In my reading there is an amount of utilization that yields the highest scores. For me it has been validated.

[user5387]

Might depend on what bucket you're in.

I think it's fallacious to assume that there are magic "right" values for FICO scoring events.

[HiLine]

I don't know where the sweet spot concept comes from. 1% is better than 9% period.

[-Wade-]

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@NikoD wrote:

I'm new to learning about FICO scoring so I have a question about how utilization factors into the scoring. I've read here that below 10% is best but does that mean that for scoring purposes it doesn't matter if it is 1% or 9%, just as long as it's below 10%. After you get below 10% is further lowering better for the score? Also, is 0% bad because it looks like the credit isn't even being used?

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@i get my best score @1%