Only one credit card. Better to pay in full or leave small balance?

[Anonymous]

I have read many posts about paying in full all of your credit cards and leaving one credit card with a 5%-9% balance after statement cuts. What if you only have ONE credit card? Is it best to leave a small balance or pay it in full? What will give you the best FICO score?

Other than my one credit card, I have a car loan and student loan tradelines. 

[-Wade-]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have read many posts about paying in full all of your credit cards and leaving one credit card with a 5%-9% balance after statement cuts. What if you only have ONE credit card? Is it best to leave a small balance or pay it in full? What will give you the best FICO score?

Other than my one credit card, I have a car loan and student loan tradelines. 

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The best score you will get is to let it report a 1% balance

[Anonymous]

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@-Wade- wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have read many posts about paying in full all of your credit cards and leaving one credit card with a 5%-9% balance after statement cuts. What if you only have ONE credit card? Is it best to leave a small balance or pay it in full? What will give you the best FICO score?

Other than my one credit card, I have a car loan and student loan tradelines. 

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The best score you will get is to let it report a 1% balance

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Wade is correct as to the absolute best score. You would need to pay down the card to <1% before the statement cuts and pay the rest of it before the due date. However, this only really applies if you're getting close to applying for something. Otherwise, just pay in full every month, and don't sweat the urge to boost your score. 

[Chris679]

1-9% is optimal. I PIF right before the due date and whatever transactions are pending at that time will give me my 1-9%.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@-Wade- wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I have read many posts about paying in full all of your credit cards and leaving one credit card with a 5%-9% balance after statement cuts. What if you only have ONE credit card? Is it best to leave a small balance or pay it in full? What will give you the best FICO score?

Other than my one credit card, I have a car loan and student loan tradelines. 

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The best score you will get is to let it report a 1% balance

---

Wade is correct as to the absolute best score. You would need to pay down the card to <1% before the statement cuts and pay the rest of it before the due date. However, this only really applies if you're getting close to applying for something. Otherwise, just pay in full every month, and don't sweat the urge to boost your score. 

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+1

Only reasons to consider having card report a small balance less than 10% is if you plan on applying for something soon. Otherwise, you can just let the card report a balance and PIF before the due date. The only exceptions would be if you are utilizing dangerously high amounts of credit (over 50%) on your only card or if your overall credit profile is very weak and you are worried that a drop in points due to utilization will result in AAs.