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I want to apply for BCE soon and I was worried that my current 1% utilization from $20 on my 2500 limit Discover might make me look unprofitable to amex. Would it be in my favor to raise utilization to 9%? I really hate spending so if it doesn't make a difference then I plan to keep it at 1%. Otherwise I have a plan to get my spend up to 9% charging a a card then getting a refund.
Don't go out of your way to charge something you wouldn't charge otherwise. If it means anything, my utilization was under 1% when I applied for my AMEX card, and they gave my 150% of my highest limit at that time.
The only thing the computer will see when reviewing the app is a non-zero number less than 9% - whether that's 1%, 5%, or 8.99%, no difference at all
Also I just wanted to make sure $20 counts as 1% of $2500 for scoring purposes. 1% of $2500 would technically be $25 but I can assume $20 rounds up right?
@Subexistence wrote:Also I just wanted to make sure $20 counts as 1% of $2500 for scoring purposes. 1% of $2500 would technically be $25 but I can assume $20 rounds up right?
Good enough. $2 would be enough to avoid a FICO point loss due to zero accounts reporting a balance. More than $0 reporting on one account is all you need..
I'd leave at least a $5 balance to ensure that Discover doesn't decide to forgive the bill and report zero. If you're aiming for 1%, $10 to $25 sounds good to me.
As the other folks are saying, you really have a very wide range that will all be equivalent.
The only thing that hasn't been mentioned is the importance of making sure that your other card is reporting $0. That shouldn't be difficult, since if memory serves you hate that particular card -- I am pretty sure it has been $0 for the last couple months.
@Subexistence wrote:I want to apply for BCE soon and I was worried that my current 1% utilization from $20 on my 2500 limit Discover might make me look unprofitable to amex. Would it be in my favor to raise utilization to 9%? I really hate spending so if it doesn't make a difference then I plan to keep it at 1%. Otherwise I have a plan to get my spend up to 9% charging a a card then getting a refund.
If you used the Discover card in a typical month, and did not pay the current month charges down before this current statement date (understanding that you pay in full the prior month statement balance to avoid triggering interest) what would your reported statement balance be for the Discover card?
@NRB525 wrote:
@Subexistence wrote:I want to apply for BCE soon and I was worried that my current 1% utilization from $20 on my 2500 limit Discover might make me look unprofitable to amex. Would it be in my favor to raise utilization to 9%? I really hate spending so if it doesn't make a difference then I plan to keep it at 1%. Otherwise I have a plan to get my spend up to 9% charging a a card then getting a refund.
If you used the Discover card in a typical month, and did not pay the current month charges down before this current statement date (understanding that you pay in full the prior month statement balance to avoid triggering interest) what would your reported statement balance be for the Discover card?
your reported statement balance would just be whatever you charged that current month.