UTILIZATION Question !

[Anonymous]

Hi all!  So I recently paid down a few of my cards, and as of last night (Saturday) the new UTIL reflected on my Experian report -- but no change in score.  When I paid down my FingerHut from $225 - $0 on a $250 CL, I shot up 7 points but it took a day or 2.  I paid down one $1,000 CL to 15% UTIL from 75% UTIL, and 2 other cards to $0 from 80% UTIL (My NFCU VISA and Credit One, both $700 CL).  I'm expecting a jump for sure, as my overall UTIL went from 81% to ~ 40% .. Just want some input on how fast scores update after UTIL is lowered or any changes are made to the report in general !  FYI*  I use EXPERIAN Credit Tracker with a FICO 8.

Thank you !!

[kdm31091]

It is not always going to make a huge difference. Honestly, util has never really made my score change much. Once you have several cards, you will not see as drastic of score changes.

[Anonymous]

Use the EX Credit Tracker Simulator to test what paying down those amount would mean. 

I paid my AMEX card down by $2000 and dropped it by about 22% and saw no, ZERO change. Paid my only other balance on a car from 40% to 25% and got 4 points. I expected about 10 points from the AMEX payment, but nothing. Nada. Zilch. And utilization on just my AMEX is the only negative I have. 

Congrats on your hard work. Keep your focus and keep doing what you're doing. The best is yet to come and those points are on the way!

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just want some input on how fast scores update after UTIL is lowered or any changes are made to the report in general ! 

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When a score is generated it is generated based on whatever data is currently in the report used a data source.  If your lowered utilization is on the report then it has been accounted for in the score.  That said, some do experience bucketing issues where it can take time for utilziation changes to show an impact.  You should see results from going from 81% to 40%.

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@kdm31091 wrote:
Once you have several cards, you will not see as drastic of score changes.

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It really depends on the change in utilization and not the number of cards itself.  A person with more cards is likely to have higher total limits and lower utilization but it's not a guarantee.

[Anonymous]

I just had a balance increase of $141 reported. It dropped my score by 7 points. My total CL is 23k. Strange that less than a 1% change dropped my score that much.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi all!  So I recently paid down a few of my cards, and as of last night (Saturday) the new UTIL reflected on my Experian report -- but no change in score.  When I paid down my FingerHut from $225 - $0 on a $250 CL, I shot up 7 points but it took a day or 2.  I paid down one $1,000 CL to 15% UTIL from 75% UTIL, and 2 other cards to $0 from 80% UTIL (My NFCU VISA and Credit One, both $700 CL).  I'm expecting a jump for sure, as my overall UTIL went from 81% to ~ 40% .. Just want some input on how fast scores update after UTIL is lowered or any changes are made to the report in general !  FYI*  I use EXPERIAN Credit Tracker with a FICO 8.

Thank you !!

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Reducing utilization on individual cards typically has no impact on score unless it was previously maxed out ( or sometimes if you take balance to zero dollars). Nonetheless, dropping overall utilization from over 80% to under 50% should definitely have a positive impact.

I can't tell you how long your pay downs will take to show up ... but here are some other milestones to shoot for that may boost score further.

1) Overall utilization reduction to below: 35%, 20% and 10%

2) Reduce # cards reporting a non zero balance to: less than 50% reporting, only one card reporting.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I just had a balance increase of $141 reported. It dropped my score by 7 points. My total CL is 23k. Strange that less than a 1% change dropped my score that much.

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Did the # of cards you have reporting a non zero balance increase? The scoring model does look at how many cards are reporting as a factor independent from CL utilization. It is unclear where the breakpoints are for cards reporting and the potential impact on score appears to be dependent on what scorecard your profile falls in.

[jbsea]

well on the bad side.... I had a brain fart and did not pay my visa before the statement date.  As a general rule I leave between 1% and 7% showing.  We made a big purchase on one card (about 80% of that one card) and I lost about 15 points.  My overall UTL is only about 25% but it seemed to make a difference.  With that said I also had three other cards showing balances.  Those were on purpose because I had not used them in awhile and I wanted to make sure that they showed usage.  But the great thing about UTL is it has no memory and next month I will be in happy land again.  So yes it does make a difference.  30% of your score. 

You should see a change in your score.  If not check your reports and make sure that nothing else bad is showing.