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I've been using Equifax Premiere lately, mostly because it allows me unlimited Equifax credit pulls. I happened to pull my report on the 24th of June, which indicated a FAKO of 631. I received a plan alert today for a decrease in balance. I was hoping it was on my larger card that I've paid down almost $3k since the last report, but it wasn't. It was a small Orchard Bank card. Here's what I found interesting:
The card reported a balance last month of $241 of a $300 limit, which is 80% util. The card was paid off prior to this reporting, so it improved card utli 80%, but only 2% overall revolving credit utilization. Still, this drop in util bumped my EQ FAKO from 631 to 643, which I thought was pretty cool.
My last FICO was pulled 13 Jun. It was EQ 627. I'm waiting for MyFICO to give me a SW Alert so I can see what my FICO bumped. If it's half of what the EQ FAKO bumped, I'll be a happy camper. I can't wait to see what the change will be once my larger card reports a change from 70% to 34%, with an overall util change of 64% to 28%!
Although it was a small decrease in overall util, you paid off one card that was close to maxed out. Maxed out cards will penalize your scores, even if they have little effect on total utilization.
Can I expect fairly similar results when my larger card reports the new balances? I'd really love to get into the 700 club before the end of the year! I've still got some baddies to work on to get there, though.
@germese1975 wrote:Can I expect fairly similar results when my larger card reports the new balances? I'd really love to get into the 700 club before the end of the year! I've still got some baddies to work on to get there, though.
Your score will definately increase. It will increase even more if you can get util below 10%, and still more if you can get lower than that. Utilization is a major factor in calculating a FICO score.
If I can keep paying as much as I have been since May, my utilization will be down to about 4% in September. All that's left is to get rid of of 4 CO, 2 Midland accounts, and, hopefully, a years worth of 90 day lates on an old mortgage that is going through a short sale right now.