Util Too High??

[chrisw1968uk]

Hi All

My Discover Fico is telling me that my high util is affecting my Fico score - Im not understanding it very well lol

I have $64,500 available over 6 accounts - 5 are at $0 balance and the last one has a $1k balance on a $17k CL card - maybe i should drop it down some, just struck me as odd

[Thomas_Thumb]

No worries you are well under the 10% utilization threshold benchmark. Continue onward but cycle through cards so all report at least one non zero balance every 12 months. Focus on the end game.

 If you need to apply for new credit short term - I recommend puling your TU report (it provides the best granularity in payment history IMO). Note: Discover uses TU for their Fico 8 score.

[NRB525]

OP, what is your score from Discover?

Keep in mind, all the "score feedback" algorithms have to come up with about 4 reasons to send you. Sometimes those reasons make sense. Other times, they are headscratchers which, in this case, you can ignore.

[Revelate]

Hehe, you're gold plated anyway OP; when someone reaches the high scoring range of 780+ the reasons start to really not matter as they have to give you something by regulation until you get to 850... so just get a good giggle out of it or whatever and go on with life.  

I know I will be laughing all the way to the bank anyway when my report finally gets clean in another 2.3 years, but I fully expect to get some secondary amusement out of whatever my reason codes are at that point.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Revelate wrote:

Hehe, you're gold plated anyway OP; when someone reaches the high scoring range of 780+ the reasons start to really not matter as they have to give you something by regulation until you get to 850... so just get a good giggle out of it or whatever and go on with life.  

I know I will be laughing all the way to the bank anyway when my report finally gets clean in another 2.3 years, but I fully expect to get some secondary amusement out of whatever my reason codes are at that point.

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Revelate, I had not heard about the reason listing regulation until now.

Looking back at my reports for reason statements I found the following. Statements showed anytime score was more than 50 points from model scale maximum. Reason statements were not provided if score within 50 points of model scale max.

FYI - All reasom statements dropped off my classic EQ FICO 4 (Beacon 5) when score went from 796 (85% ranking) to 809 (93% ranking).. Only scores with reasons showing are industry specific FICO 4 scores relating to EQ where scores are more than 50 points below max score. No reasons listed for any of TU or EX FICO scores Fico 8, Fico 4 or Fico 98 including industry specific.

Data from reports summarized below:

1) Reason statements do show for classic Fico 4 when score was more than 50 points from Model scale max of 850

* e.g. scores of 796, 777, 765)

2) Reason statements do not show for classic Fico 4 when score was less than 50 points from max value of 850

* e.g. scores of 809, 823, 830)

3) Reason statements do show on industry specific Fico 4 when score is more than 50 points from max value of 900

* e.g. scores of 827 and 825)

4) Reason statements do not show on industry specific Fico 4 when score is less than 50 points from max value of 900

* e.g. scores of 857 to 872)

5) Reason statements do not show on industry specific Fico 8 when score is less than 50 points from max value of 900 

* e.g. scores of 877 to 900)

6) Reason statements do not show on classic Fico 8 when score is at 850. 

Equifax Score Power Report Data
Fico 4 (Beacon 5) Score	Cumulative %
765	67
777	73
796	85
809	93

Percentages shown are taken from the CRA reports which say: "Your Fico score of ___ is better than ___% of US Consumers"

Data suggests reason statements are not be required to be listed when scores are above a certain number or percentile (as opposed to at maximum).

[Anonymous]

Hello ChrisW.  Do you mind quoting the exact text of the reason you were given, as it appeared on your Discover score dashboard?

[NRB525]

Well, this is mine, likely similar

[Revelate]

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@Thomas_Thumb wrote:

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@Revelate wrote:

Hehe, you're gold plated anyway OP; when someone reaches the high scoring range of 780+ the reasons start to really not matter as they have to give you something by regulation until you get to 850... so just get a good giggle out of it or whatever and go on with life.  

I know I will be laughing all the way to the bank anyway when my report finally gets clean in another 2.3 years, but I fully expect to get some secondary amusement out of whatever my reason codes are at that point.

---

Revelate, I had not heard about the reason listing requirement until now.

FYI - All reasom statements dropped of my classic EQ FICO 4 when score went from 796 (85% ranking) to 809 (93% ranking).. Only scores with reasons showing are industry specific FICO 4 scores relating to EQ.  No reasons listed for any of TU or EX FICO scores Fico 8, Fico 4 or Fico 98 including industry specific.

Data suggests reason statements are not be required to be listed when scores are above a certain number or percentile (as opposed to at maximum).

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Could be percentage based but your Beacon 5.0 score caps at 818; you were closer to perfect at 809 than 93% by a large margin.

My understanding from anecdotal reports here is the reason codes on FICO 8 stay until you hit 850.

[Anonymous]

Hi NRB525.  The thing is, those reason codes make sense for you.  You are 75 points away from a maximum and you have a 15% utilization and many MANY thousands of dollars of revolving debt.  Certainly one reason (surely not the only but definitely one) why your score is not higher is because your revoving balances are as high as they are. 

Our OP is indicating that he owes 1k and has a 1.55% utilization; and as far as we can tell he has a score in the 780s or 790s.  The explanation for him being 60 points away from maximum is NOT that his CC debt is too high.

In my mind it's diffilcult to meaningfully comment on his perplexity without knowing exactly what the code said (in his case) and what his score is.  If his score is 845, then the reason code is likely meaningless.  If it was ranked as #4 it is still silly/bizarre, but far less strange than if it was #1.  And it's also possible that the text might have refered to debt in general (or even installment debt in particular) and not solely revolving debt -- a question we could answer if we knew exactly word for word what he saw..  We know none of these particulars for our OP so it is hard in my view to answer his question.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi NRB525.  The thing is, those reason codes make sense for you.  You are 75 points away from a maximum and you have a 15% utilization and many MANY thousands of dollars of revolving debt.  Certainly one reason (surely not the only but definitely one) why your score is not higher is because your revoving balances are as high as they are. 

Our OP is indicating that he owes 1k and has a 1.55% utilization; and as far as we can tell he has a score in the 780s or 790s.  The explanation for him being 60 points away from maximum is NOT that his CC debt is too high.

In my mind it's diffilcult to meaningfully comment on his perplexity without knowing exactly what the code said (in his case) and what his score is.  If his score is 845, then the reason code is likely meaningless.  If it was ranked as #4 it is still silly/bizarre, but far less strange than if it was #1.  And it's also possible that the text might have refered to debt in general (or even installment debt in particular) and not solely revolving debt -- a question we could answer if we knew exactly word for word what he saw..  We know none of these particulars for our OP so it is hard in my view to answer his question.

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Yes, but OP hasn't replied yet, and the 780 is referenced in the siggy, so is likely recent, but even that's not certain. It could be higher.

Also relevant, my Discover Reasons are only these two all this year, not four reasons. Both reasons continue with Util and Total Balances. No mention of new accounts, which myFICO finds relevant.

I'll wager OP's Discover text is the same as my first Reason. It's still not a concern for OP.

We also don't know how aged OP's accounts are, though I suspect they are newer cards than most of mine.