@piscesmommy1987 wrote:
Hi everyone,
I recently opened up a Capital One Secured card. The CL is $201. I've been keeping it at less than 9%. First I paid the annual fee right away. Then I used it for a little less than $16 and then paid it yesterday. I wanted to know if utilization is based on keeping a balance on the card (and incurring interest fees) or if my method of using it and paying it off the next week good for increasing my score? Also, does anyone know how often Capital One report? I received the card less than two weeks ago.
You may max out your card if you want. The trick to scoring is to only allow less than 9% to report. You will have to figure out when Cap1 reports to the CBs and pay down your balance to 9% or less; then, after they report, pay off the remaining balance so you don't incur any interest charges. Then for the remainder of the month you may utilize the card as much as you want so long as you pay down the balance again right before Cap1 reports it.
Increasing your CL by adding more funds to it would allow you to carry a higher balance. Also, Cap1 does not report their secured CC as secured to the CBs so increasing your CL just looks like you got CLIs on your CC. A higher CL would probably help get higher starting CL when the time comes to apply for other CC. The most you can increase your CL is $3k. You could add $100 at a time if money is tight. It takes Cap1 about a week to increase your CL though so don't expect an instant increase.
