topic Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI? in Credit Cards

Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 06:13:02 GMT

Hi if my UTI % is dropped due to not paying of existing balances but increasing of exisiting limits does that = same score increase?

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 08:11:51 GMT

It could if your balances used decreased or stayed the same and depending on the total increase in the limits. It's usually not much from what I can see from my daily monitoring

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

lg8302ch — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 08:23:04 GMT

Yes but only once it gets reported ...whatever impact the new util % has. Hope this is just a technical question because util reduction should not be attacked like this 😀

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

takeshi74 — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 14:01:52 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi if my UTI % is dropped due to not paying of existing balances but increasing of exisiting limits does that = same score increase?

It's like any other fraction. Revolving utilization is balance(s) / limit(s). You can decrease the numerator (balance[s]) and/or increase the denominator (limit[s]) to make it smaller. What mattters is the %.

That said, you still want to reduce debt versus simply relying on CLI's and you certainly need to make at least the required payments.

@lg8302ch wrote:
Yes but only once it gets reported ...whatever impact the new util % has.

Right -- a scoring model refers to the data in the report. It's the balances and limits on the report that matter. The scoring models does not have access to current account information.

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 15:55:42 GMT

Just paying a few thousand today but I know NFCU AR is next Monday so wondering if I should pay balance down on another card since the NFCU card, pending approval, will see a "decrease" in its uti%.

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

Chris679 — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 21:28:59 GMT

Pay down the higher interest rates first to save money. If they are all equal then sure lower the utilization on each card.

Re: Utilization; Decreased by CLI?

Appleman — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 21:35:01 GMT

If the goal is to improve the score, pay attention to how your score improves as you drop the utilzation percentage.

90% and above = Maxxed out

I have found the following % thresholds have improved my scores (YMMV)

Below 70%, 50%, 30% and 10%.