High balance reporting

[Anonymous]

Will lenders report a high balance even if you pay it off before the statement cuts?

For example, I charge $5000 to my brand new card, and I pay it down to $100 before the statement cuts. What gets reported as the high balance? The mid-cycle high balance of $5000 or the statement balance of $100?

[Anonymous]

the statement

[chwebb1]

It depends on the bank. In my experience, Barclaycard, Bank of America, and Chase reported the high balance as the highest balance my account had ever gotten to (this is not the "Balance" field on the CR, but the "High Balance" field). AMEX and Discover and I believe Citi report the highest statement balance I've ever gotten to. But I wouln't worry about this. I don't believe that the "High Balance" field is a consideration to any creditor (as long as your balance is not currently high). I have an old account on my CR that reports a high balance of around $2300 of a $2500 CL (this account is closed now by me). I've never been questioned about this.

[lhcole77]

For me the answer is yes. My high balance has always been reported regardless of whether I paid it down before statement cut.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about bringing up an old thread but I have been trying to research the subject for an answer. Last month my American Express got up to nearly $5000. However I made additional purchases and payments and by time the statement closed my balance was $3900. It has been reported to all three credit agencies that my American Express high balance is $3900. I was hoping for the higher amount honestly because I feel that having a lower balance than your "high balance" shows that you're capable of managing your credit well and would help with internal score models. This is the only credit card issuer where I have actually took notice to what was reported for high balance rather it being highest statement balance or highest balance at any point in the history of the card. Sorry if this is been discussed or noted somewhere else but I did spend hours trying to research the subject and found very little. Maybe I should start a new to thead Were the subject of "high balance" can be discussed

[ojefferyo]

I know Chase reports the high balance regardless of what the balance is at the time. 

[happypill]

I'm pretty sure Cap One reports high balance recorded even though I paid before statement cut.  To me this is a positive.  It shows that I put significant spend on the card, then paid it down fully.  I think it plays into getting CLIs.

If they don't report high balance, then if you pay before statment cut it could really look like you're not using the limit that you have and don't need additional credit.