flojo's post: High Reported Utilization, But We PIF

[LilyBee]

Hauling:

Thanks for the explanation of the previous 'blathering.'     Pay when it drops; you'd think I'd have figured that out by now, since I'm addicted to maximizing. 

Also, I've never received an alert and I have at least 25 old cards on my reports which apparently I shouldn't close, according to the rules of the game. 

Oh well, I guess my scores are good enough.  Thank goodness for little favors.   I'll never get to 850, since myfico reports that I haven't had them long enough. 

[LilyBee]

Duh.  I mean BEFORE it drops.

[Booner72]

LilyBee:  You probably don't have your settings set to notify you of new activity every 3 months (It can go as high as 24 months).  I have all my settings set so that any small activity or change will give me an alert.  I do this bc when you get an alert, you get to see your score.

[vanillabean]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

I nearly always have all but one of them reporting $0. Whenever I let more balances report, my scores plummet.

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Sorry, I'm a bit rusty, didn't log in during the last quarter, but it's my experience too that a drop takes place, although I can't be sure at this time. DW and I each presently have two positive card balances reporting, and yet she's at 817. I don't believe I have ever seen anyone in these forums with an EQ FICO equal to or greater than this.  

[Nelliesmom]

You can actually contact each credit card company and ask when they report to the credit bureaus.  Once you have that information, simple pay your account in full a few days before, then they will report 0 balance with your high credit.  I have been doing this for almost a year and my score improved by over fifty points.   

[Anonymous]

I find that if I pay in full ahead of time and then rotate which cards I am using I can keep all but one reporting $0.  Most of my cards report either near the 1st or the 15th.  If I would like to continue using a card like my AMEX 2% cash back card and still have it report $0 then I can simply pay more than what is due(so that there is a credit of how ever much I will need until it reports) and continue to use the card.  I usualy choose a card that I do not use frequently and allow that one to report balance of $20 which I imediatly pay of after it posts to my credit report.

[lloyd1981]

My companion has paid her regular American Express card on time, every month, since her registered start date: 1974. I have had a Business AmEx since 1980. I made the progression from green through to platinum. Many times my account was well above $10k, always paid immediately upon receiving my statement, now handled online. No credit report I have seen, and I have purchased all reports at least on a quarterly basis, has ever shown that either of us even HAVE AmEx accounts. I am the business owner and solely responsible for any and all charges made to the Business account. My current limit is "No set limit."

Add me to the list of those frustrated with the process.

[vanillabean]

Business cards often do not appear on credit reports. If you get a backdated personal amex card whose limit reports to the credit agencies, your frustration will likely be alleviated by a comfortable score increase.

[lloyd1981]

RE: Business cards not showing up on credit reports.

1. I have one VISA and one MasterCard business card. Both show, with the notation that I am the primary for those accounts.

2. AmEx uses TransUnion each year to check my personal credit.

Once again... being checked by but not allowed to use... Well, I hope you get the picture.

[Anonymous]

I did the same thing until I realized that the cc company was taking about a week or a bit longer to report.  The trick is to wait until you received your cc bill.  This way it will report that you have a zero balance.  Then you can go ahead and charge what you wish showing still a zero balance until you pay in full again.  But always wait until you get you new statement before you charge again.  It will always show a zero balance after that.  It worked for me!   Hope this helps!