cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Best option for utilization

tag
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

Thank you blk8 and fade. That is the kind of outside of the box thinking I was looking for. The latter is particularly interesting, but unfortunatley the new TLs have come at the expense of inquiries. Additionally, I am a noob, so figuring out when cc's report would be challenging. I also do not know what my APR will be for BoA after the introductory 0% period. I could get screwed if it is high.


If you don't want new accounts, you could talk blk8's approach but rather than applying for new accounts, ask for some CLIs on your existing accounts.  Chase always HPs though.  I'm not sure about the others, I never keep that straight.  In any event, inquiries without the addition of a new account (which will lower your AAoA) aren't going to hurt your score that much.  Most of the effect of the inquiry on your score would be gone in 6 months, and all of it gone in a year.

Why are you interested in keeping your score maximized?  Are you planning for another application while you are paying down the BT?  If not, just transfer it all to BofA and be done with it.  Your score will keep going up as your utilization is paid down.

 

As for getting stuck with the high APR after the BT period ends, that's going to be the case with any of your cards.  But at 16 months of $450, you're going to have paid most of it back. Hopefully sometime in the next 16 months you can make a few extra payments, and if not, you can decide whether another BT is worthwhile.


Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 11 of 29
tcbofade
Super Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

tcbofade

Is it not better to have 4 TL's reporting with 0 balance and one biggie balance? Just asking?


NO!

 

You want TWO reporting zero.  That's one critical part of FICO scoring.

 

Define "biggie".  I realize (and agree) that 71% on card looks scary, but ONLY to you and I.  The CC issuer AND FICO scoring define "biggie" as over 89.9%.

 

Keep every card under 90% and keep two paid in full.  (zero balance).

 

 

 

02/01/24 Fico 8: EX 757, EQ 803, TU 783.
Fico 9: EX 760 12/16/23, EQ 790 02/04/24, TU No idea.

Zero percent financing is where the devil lives...
Message 12 of 29
tcbofade
Super Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

Thank you blk8 and fade. That is the kind of outside of the box thinking I was looking for. The latter is particularly interesting, but unfortunatley the new TLs have come at the expense of inquiries. Additionally, I am a noob, so figuring out when cc's report would be challenging. I also do not know what my APR will be for BoA after the introductory 0% period. I could get screwed if it is high.


 

Not really.  You mentioned that it's 16 month zero percent.  If it jumps up to some scary unreasonable rate after 16 months, THEN you open a new zero percent card with another bank and transfer it again...  Smiley Happy

02/01/24 Fico 8: EX 757, EQ 803, TU 783.
Fico 9: EX 760 12/16/23, EQ 790 02/04/24, TU No idea.

Zero percent financing is where the devil lives...
Message 13 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

This has been a very enlightening thread. I plan to but half of the $9100 chase balance on my new BoA, thus keeping less than 50% uti on both cards instead of over 90% on one. I also got the itch last night and got the Hilton Honors for 7k CL. I am done for now. Off to tend for a while. Thank you all for your valuable insight.

Capital One Venture- $30,000, CSP- $29,500, PenFed Promise Visa- $26,000, NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $25,000, NASA Federal Credit Union PLOC- $25,000, Amex BCE- 23,500, Merrill +- $23,000, Western Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, OCCU Platinum Visa- $20,000, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit UnionPlatinum Visa- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union MasterCard- $15,000, Allied Credit Union Visa- $15,0000, BBVA NBA Amex $15,000, Houston Police Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $15,000, Amex PRG NPSL, Discover IT- $14,300, DCU Platinum Visa- $10,000, Smart Financial CU Platinum MC- $10,000, Citi Hilton Honors Visa- $7500, USAA Platinum Visa- $7000, GEMB/Dillard's-$7500.00, GEMB/JCP-$10,000
Message 14 of 29
aad041109
Established Member

Re: Best option for utilization


@tcbofade wrote:

   NO!

You want TWO reporting zero.  That's one critical part of FICO scoring.

Define "biggie".  I realize (and agree) that 71% on card looks scary, but ONLY to you and I.  The CC issuer AND FICO scoring define "biggie" as over 89.9%.

Keep every card under 90% and keep two paid in full.  (zero balance).


Lots of good advice in this thread. Just a quick quesiton...

Are you asking the OP to keep 2 cards at zero because he has 5 CCs or is 2 cards at zero balance usually the magic number regardless of how many cards you have? Also, does 89% util on a card hurt your score? I thought anything over 50% util hurt your score.


Starting Score: 520s (BK7 in 09/08)
Current Score: EQ 676, TU 662 (MyFico Scores)
Goal Score: 700 Club


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge | In the Garden until 10/2013 | Last App in 04/13 (Barclay Card & Cap1 CLI)
Message 15 of 29
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

This has been a very enlightening thread. I plan to but half of the $9100 chase balance on my new BoA, thus keeping less than 50% uti on both cards instead of over 90% on one. I also got the itch last night and got the Hilton Honors for 7k CL. I am done for now. Off to tend for a while. Thank you all for your valuable insight.


I dont' understand why you are leaving a balance on the Chase card which you are paying interest on.  Your FICO score doesn't remember what your past utilization was.  You won't get more points for prior good behavior.  It just scores what is on your report at the time it is pulled.  Within about 8 months, even if you transfer all of the balance to BofA, you'll be back down to around 50% utilization.  But you'll have paid less interest.  Why is it important to maximize your score during those 8 months?  You've said you already applied for another CC and don't intend to apply for any more soon.  Plus, even if you did intend to apply for other CCs, your scores are fine.  The only way I could see this mattering is if you were looking for a car or a mortgage in the next 8 months and your score was right near a cutoff for a better interest rate.  If that's the case, I wouldn't have applied for that Hhonors card, but what's done is done. 


Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 16 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

^^^^^^^

I think I finally get it now. I can now see the advantages of transferring the entire amount. I wish I could see an amoritization of two $9100 amounts. One w/ 0% and the other with 9.9. I guess I got caught up in chasing the almighty score even though I have all the cards I want (except 1/ CSP). Sometimes you just need a good kick in the arse.

 

BTW, no future mortgage or auto loan needed. I just recently learned to love a healthy credit number. I think I need to step away from the forum for a while.

 

Apping for CSP in 5/2014

Capital One Venture- $30,000, CSP- $29,500, PenFed Promise Visa- $26,000, NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $25,000, NASA Federal Credit Union PLOC- $25,000, Amex BCE- 23,500, Merrill +- $23,000, Western Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, OCCU Platinum Visa- $20,000, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit UnionPlatinum Visa- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union MasterCard- $15,000, Allied Credit Union Visa- $15,0000, BBVA NBA Amex $15,000, Houston Police Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $15,000, Amex PRG NPSL, Discover IT- $14,300, DCU Platinum Visa- $10,000, Smart Financial CU Platinum MC- $10,000, Citi Hilton Honors Visa- $7500, USAA Platinum Visa- $7000, GEMB/Dillard's-$7500.00, GEMB/JCP-$10,000
Message 17 of 29
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

^^^^^^^

I think I finally get it now. I can now see the advantages of transferring the entire amount. I wish I could see an amoritization of two $9100 amounts. One w/ 0% and the other with 9.9. I guess I got caught up in chasing the almighty score even though I have all the cards I want (except 1/ CSP). Sometimes you just need a good kick in the arse.

 

BTW, no future mortgage or auto loan needed. I just recently learned to love a healthy credit number. I think I need to step away from the forum for a while.

 

Apping for CSP in 5/2014


Yeah, it is easy to get caught up in the number without thinking about what the credit score is for.  You'll be fine.  Honestly, when you factor in the 3% transfer fee that you would save, leaving half of the balance on the Chase card probably isn't going to make that much difference in interest.  But it will make some difference, and once this is paid down, there will be no difference in your score between the two alternative pathways.  Since you can save some money with no difference in your credit score, so I would take the option that saves some money.  Additionally, transferring everything to BofA has the added benefit of not having to worry about multiple payments.  You can just focus on paying everything toward one card to try to wipe out that balance during the 16 month 0% period.   


Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 18 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

Walt, while I have your attention, why does my utilization get penalized for using all of my 36k kitchen heloc? I understand I used 100% of the funds, but why should my credit number have to suffer? I guess I was too ignorant to ask for more than I needed.
Capital One Venture- $30,000, CSP- $29,500, PenFed Promise Visa- $26,000, NASA Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $25,000, NASA Federal Credit Union PLOC- $25,000, Amex BCE- 23,500, Merrill +- $23,000, Western Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, OCCU Platinum Visa- $20,000, Randolph Brooks Federal Credit UnionPlatinum Visa- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union PLOC- $20,000, Security Service Federal Credit Union MasterCard- $15,000, Allied Credit Union Visa- $15,0000, BBVA NBA Amex $15,000, Houston Police Federal Credit Union Platinum Visa- $15,000, Amex PRG NPSL, Discover IT- $14,300, DCU Platinum Visa- $10,000, Smart Financial CU Platinum MC- $10,000, Citi Hilton Honors Visa- $7500, USAA Platinum Visa- $7000, GEMB/Dillard's-$7500.00, GEMB/JCP-$10,000
Message 19 of 29
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:
Walt, while I have your attention, why does my utilization get penalized for using all of my 36k kitchen heloc? I understand I used 100% of the funds, but why should my credit number have to suffer? I guess I was too ignorant to ask for more than I needed.

HELOCs are normally excluded from utilization.  Some people with high credit limits also have their cards exlcuded.  You variously see this reported as taking effect around the $40K+ limit. 

 

How do you know your HELOC is being counted?  I suppose it is possible that it is counting because it is only $36K.  I don't know if the process that excludes HELOCs operates only by the limit of the account, or if it specifically looks to identify accounts that are HELOCs apart from also excluding high limit accounts.  But I'm curious how you know it is counting in your utilization.  Are you seeing utilization reported as a specific percentage on a report from myfico, or are you just seeing a comment at the end of a report that says your utilization is too high.  If it's the latter, you can't read too much into those comments. 


 


Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
Current Score: EQ 681 (04/05/13); TU 98 728 (01/06/12), TU 08? 760 (provided by Barclay 1/2/14), TU 04 728 (lender pull 01/12/12); EX 742 (lender pull 01/12/12)
Goal Score: 720


Take the FICO Fitness Challenge
Message 20 of 29
Advertiser Disclosure: The offers that appear on this site are from third party advertisers from whom FICO receives compensation.