@Revelate wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:To add another scenario here. What if you have say (9) cards. You have (3) cards report a balance but the grand total of available credit being used is still under 9%? Do you lose a point or two by not have just exactly (1) card reporting a balance? When I check my reports here one of the pluses it notes is making use of revolving credit.
Appears that it may be percentage based: for my file I don't lose anything going from 1 to 2 cards reporting a balance. I do drop 3 points going to 3 cards reporting a balance (and then take a further hit at 5 cards).
From anyone who has posted data though, 1 card will be optimal, just others might be too... so for anyone coming off the street to this forum, recommendation of only one card reporting a balance is good enough. It's not bad information, and is as close to optimal as we can get on a short-term advice basis, it's just not complete.
I have about 4 years of detailed EQ history with FICO 4 and later, FICO 8. This is pretty much what I've seen. FICO 4 was much more sensitive if all or most of your cards reported balances. FICO 8 is still sensitive but less so. In both cases you need to have one or two cards reporting a small balance for the best FICO. A single card with a small balance will assure the highest score for both FICO 4 and FICO 8.
@jc7622 wrote:
I keep reading the suggestion of allowing only one CC to report a balance of 9% or less each month (then PIF), but to PIF your other cards to $0 balance before their statement dates. Essentially only reporting a balance on one card per month.
Why?? Why not allow all of your cards to report a balance of 9% or less? Why only one? FWIW - My primary goal is increasing my FICO score after three years of using only debit cards, just got two new CC's.
I personally don't think the theory holds water. I had small balances on all cards. Then went to 10 out of 13 reporting zero balances. Then went to most cards reporting balances again. Found no change in scores.
@Anonymous wrote:Hello MissingCalifornia and jc7622! Can you clarify which of the following you are mainly interested in?
(1) LONG TERM: Habits that will cause your credit score to gradually increase over a stretch of time.
(2) SHORT TERM: A strategy that will cause you to squeeze out some extra points just before a crucial credit check, like applying for a car loan or a mortgage.
The recomendation to make sure that all of your CCs report $0 (except one) falls into #2. It is a very short term effect. It will not help you improve your scores over the long term. (It won't hurt your scores long term either, as far as I can tell, but it's a lot of work and only worth doing for the specific reason of giving yourself a very short term boost.)
One of the other commenters on this thread mentioned this (Seezar).
Yes, it isn't really a good strategy except short term to apply for credit. That and for experimental purposes is the only time I let just one card report a balance. Generally I want issuers to see that I use my cards and letting balances report accomplishes that in the event issuers aren't looking at payments made.