FWIW with my file last year when I was Amex CLI and high balance chasing and maxxing my tradeline as a result with a 3X CLI in between the two tests at 99 and 97% utilization respectively, aggregate utilization utilization I'd have to check but was definitely >10% (think low one was 13%) and high one 27% or thereabouts, <30%.
EQ Beacon 5.0: 660 -> 646 -> 660 -> 646 -> 660.
Prettier file and FICO 8 will probably get hit harder than that. If you don't mind sharing the data once you get it I'd be interested in knowing about it!
@LuckyBird wrote:I have a ridiculously low limit on my Citi DC, as you can see in my sig. I use it for almost all of my non-cat spending and make 2 to 3 payments a month, whenever it gets to several hundred dollars, to keep it under control. It is always PIF or very close to it before the statement cuts.
I had a minor surgery last month and paid a lot of the bills with it, so instead of just a few hundred, it ended up almost maxed at just under $2,000. I paid it off yesterday and realized while I was logged in that it was the statement cut day. I was hoping the payment would register in time and it wouldn't report that balance, but late last night I got the statement email and the balance did (or will) report.
My overall UTIL will still be very low, but it will be a case of a card that never reports much of a balance being suddenly maxed.
Yikes...
I do know that temporary utilization is no big deal and score effects will (should?) reverse themselves quickly, but I'm very curious (& a little nervous) to see what this will do.
I would suggest that you need to go into "I need a CLI" mode. Stop paying the DC so fast. Let the balance report $2k, PIF a few days after statement cuts, then charge it up again to $2k by the next statement, it reports, gets paid, rinse and repeat. Your main use of the DC is for 2% back. With heavy usage, Citi will probably give you a button to press to ask for a SP CLI within 6 months or less.
Good luck!
@Anonymous wrote:
Did your scores end up dropping? I'm curious to know this.
I haven't gotten an alert on it yet. I'm kind of surprised by that since the statement cut on 6/02. I guess MyFico's just a little slow...
I will report back if/when I get one, though. The only thing that's happened so far is a $20 balance reported on my USAA card & dropped my EQ 3 points. I let that card report purposely because it hasn't ever reported a balance since I opened it last summer. Someone on here made a good point about that a little while back, so I decided to let them all report occasionally. Not all at the same time, though. (and not with $2,000 balances!!)
Chase Sapphire Reserve $30,000 | Amex BCP $30,000 | Discover It $30,000 | Citi Simp $16,500 | NFCU Cash Rewards $14,400 | Citi DC $9,800 | Chase Freedom $9,000 | VS $4,100 | Kohl's $3,000 | Loft $3,000
@NRB525 wrote:
@LuckyBird wrote:I have a ridiculously low limit on my Citi DC, as you can see in my sig. I use it for almost all of my non-cat spending and make 2 to 3 payments a month, whenever it gets to several hundred dollars, to keep it under control. It is always PIF or very close to it before the statement cuts.
I had a minor surgery last month and paid a lot of the bills with it, so instead of just a few hundred, it ended up almost maxed at just under $2,000. I paid it off yesterday and realized while I was logged in that it was the statement cut day. I was hoping the payment would register in time and it wouldn't report that balance, but late last night I got the statement email and the balance did (or will) report.
My overall UTIL will still be very low, but it will be a case of a card that never reports much of a balance being suddenly maxed.
Yikes...
I do know that temporary utilization is no big deal and score effects will (should?) reverse themselves quickly, but I'm very curious (& a little nervous) to see what this will do.
I would suggest that you need to go into "I need a CLI" mode. Stop paying the DC so fast. Let the balance report $2k, PIF a few days after statement cuts, then charge it up again to $2k by the next statement, it reports, gets paid, rinse and repeat. Your main use of the DC is for 2% back. With heavy usage, Citi will probably give you a button to press to ask for a SP CLI within 6 months or less.
Good luck!
I'll try that. Thanks! It's high again right now, (about $1600) as I've put more of the medical bills on it. I have the money sitting in the bank to pay it, just haven't done it yet.
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:Whenever a balance gets reported that is more than 75% (or 80%) of your credit line, it is viewed as maxed out by most Fico scoring models.
I made a one time mistake of charging $3202 on a store credit card with a $4000 limit (80% utilization). Although my overall utilization (all cards) for the month stayed under 4%, my score Fico 4 score took a 40 point drop - from over 800 to 765. I always pay statements in full each month but that did not help. I called, asked for and eceived a credit line increase to $7500. Over the last year I have kept utilization under 15% on all individual cards and 5% overall. My score has rebounded to 796 but I still have a ways to go.
You may see a 30 to 60 point drop in your Fico 4 scores as a result of maxing out your card.
Note: my Fico 8 scores from all three CRAs reported at 850 so the Fico 8 model likely looks at payments relative to balance (e.g. pay in full every month) where as the Fico 4 model does not..
Although you might get a hard inquiry, I would suggest asking to have your credit line increased to $4000 or $5000 to reduce card utilization. Repeatedly charging up to near the limit on your card - even if you pay before the post date is problematic and may not trigger a credit line increase.
holy cow...
I don't monitor Fico 4 scores (have no idea where to find those) but I would hope NONE of them will drop that much...
At this point asking for a CLI wouldn't do any good...the balance has already reported. Also not willing to take a HP now. I don't have THAT many inquiiries - 4 to 6 on each CB - but I want to let them all age off. I have all the cards I need/want, so just letting everything rock along & only allowing SP's.