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Best option for utilization

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tcbofade
Super Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@aad041109 wrote:

@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.


Having "more than one" account report a zero balance is a positive factor and helps your score, so yes, two is the magic number.

 

Having your OVERALL utilization over 50% hurts your score.  Having ONE card over 50% doesn't hurt it.  (...or doesn't hurt it as badly?)

 

 

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 21 of 29
lolabeth
Established Member

Re: Best option for utilization

Hey Mark293, fwiw you can plot this all out on a calculator on bank rate, I think. I can't remember if that's where it was but if you just run a search for balance transfer calculator, you should find it quickly. That way you can see how much money you'll save over time. Hope that helps!
Message 22 of 29
aad041109
Established Member

Re: Best option for utilization


@tcbofade wrote:

Having "more than one" account report a zero balance is a positive factor and helps your score, so yes, two is the magic number.

 

Having your OVERALL utilization over 50% hurts your score.  Having ONE card over 50% doesn't hurt it.  (...or doesn't hurt it as badly?)

 

 


Thanks for the explaination, tcbofade.


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 23 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

"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". 

 

Since Chase denied on the original CLI, I called the backdoor number and asked if the entire balance was paid off, how likely would I be approved for a CSP. The analyst told me my HELOC was killing my utilization. CSP was my holy grail, but I am not going to bust my arse over a simple metal card. It will all come in time.

 

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 24 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

thanks beth!

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 25 of 29
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@mark293 wrote:

"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". 

 

Since Chase denied on the original CLI, I called the backdoor number and asked if the entire balance was paid off, how likely would I be approved for a CSP. The analyst told me my HELOC was killing my utilization. CSP was my holy grail, but I am not going to bust my arse over a simple metal card. It will all come in time.

 


The analyst quite likely doesn't know what he/she is talking about.  Have you pulled a report from myfico.com?  IIRC the reports here list your utilization percentage, so you would be able to tell if it is counting the HELOC or not. 


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 26 of 29
Walt_K
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization


@tcbofade wrote:

@aad041109 wrote:

@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.


Having "more than one" account report a zero balance is a positive factor and helps your score, so yes, two is the magic number.

 

Having your OVERALL utilization over 50% hurts your score.  Having ONE card over 50% doesn't hurt it.  (...or doesn't hurt it as badly?)

 

 


Utilization is scored on an individual and overall basis, so yes, having one card over 50% does hurt your score.  The ideal place for most people is to have all accounts but one report a $0 balance, and then have one account report 9% or less of that account's CL. 

 

As you move up from there, you typically lose some points.  Granted, it's not going to be a ton of points if your overall utilization is low, but you will lose some.  Anecdotally, I've seen my score drop quite a bit when I utilized a 0% offer that put a card at above 90%.  Once I got it below 80%, I gained about 30 points.  Overall utilization was fairly low the whole time, so one card can make a difference.  

 

All that was meant as clarification to the point above.  The point for the OP is that if you're not planning on any major apps in the near future and you already have scores in the 720 range anyway, just do whatever is going to save you the most in interest.  Once you have the accounts paid back down, your score is going to be the same no matter which route you took. 


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 27 of 29
mark293
Regular Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

You da' man Walt!

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 28 of 29
youngandcreditwrthy
Senior Contributor

Re: Best option for utilization

I'd xfer the whole balance to BOA.
It's easier to manage with just one account reporting and needing to be serviced.
Ask boa for a cli, that might get you a higher limit, thus reducing util across the board!
:-) good luck
Marriott PR$25k | BCE $24.5K |BankAmericard Visa $25k| BOA Better Bal $17.5k |Wmt Discover $12.5k | BR Visa $17.5k | Amex Delta Gold $10k | Discover IT $10k | Paypal Extras MC $15k | Amazon Store $10k|Smile Gen $7.25k | Dillard's $10k | West Elm $4k| Express $3.05K | Mypoints.com Visa $4.5k | Freedom Visa $1k| Amex Surpass $1k
Message 29 of 29
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