topic Utilization Question in Understanding FICO® Scoring

Utilization Question

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 20:56:32 GMT

Hi. I have worked very hard to get my credit right. I have about 10000 in balances across 3 cards (zero interest) and almost $135000 in avail credit. My current FICO, according to Cap 1 website, is 710. I played with the simulator, as I have to fix both of our cars and finish fixing up our house, and by adding over $5000 to my balances my score will drop almost 75 points. Again, I am not paying interest and will not have to. However, should I be worried about this drop in my FICO? (of course I don't want it to drop that much, but I need to get things done and that's what this credit is for.) I have zero plans for additional cards in the future. Thanks.

Re: Utilization Question

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 21:21:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi. I have worked very hard to get my credit right. I have about 10000 in balances across 3 cards (zero interest) and almost $135000 in avail credit. My current FICO, according to Cap 1 website, is 710. I played with the simulator, as I have to fix both of our cars and finish fixing up our house, and by adding over $5000 to my balances my score will drop almost 75 points. Again, I am not paying interest and will not have to. However, should I be worried about this drop in my FICO? (of course I don't want it to drop that much, but I need to get things done and that's what this credit is for.) I have zero plans for additional cards in the future. Thanks.

First off, you arent playing with a FICO simulator, its a FAKO simulator. CapOne does NOT provide a FICO score, it's a Vantage score, which seems to be much more sensitive to new accounts than FICO is. you shouldnt see THAT much of a score drop if you add $5K in utilization, unless your cards are low limits..

Re: Utilization Question

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 21:31:42 GMT

First, thanks for replying. I have a Marvel card at 25K (but it has zero balance and I don't trust it b/c of the other postings on here), a Discover at 21K, Chase Marriott at 19K, and others at/around 10K. I didn't understand why adding more to my balances would drop my scores 70+ points, but I was unaware that Cap 1 simulator was a FAKO. This is some relief.

Re: Utilization Question

SouthJamaica — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 22:08:51 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi. I have worked very hard to get my credit right. I have about 10000 in balances across 3 cards (zero interest) and almost $135000 in avail credit. My current FICO, according to Cap 1 website, is 710. I played with the simulator, as I have to fix both of our cars and finish fixing up our house, and by adding over $5000 to my balances my score will drop almost 75 points. Again, I am not paying interest and will not have to. However, should I be worried about this drop in my FICO? (of course I don't want it to drop that much, but I need to get things done and that's what this credit is for.) I have zero plans for additional cards in the future. Thanks.

1. Capital One doesn't supply a FICO score, it supplies a Vantage 3.0 score, which is often very different.

2. All of the simulators are often wildly off base, and not meaningful.

3. The best way to optimize your utilization is: (a) have more than half of your cards report at zero; (b) let the other cards report at less than 10%.

Re: Utilization Question

surferchris — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 01:02:40 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
Hi. I have worked very hard to get my credit right. I have about 10000 in balances across 3 cards (zero interest) and almost $135000 in avail credit. My current FICO, according to Cap 1 website, is 710. I played with the simulator, as I have to fix both of our cars and finish fixing up our house, and by adding over $5000 to my balances my score will drop almost 75 points. Again, I am not paying interest and will not have to. However, should I be worried about this drop in my FICO? (of course I don't want it to drop that much, but I need to get things done and that's what this credit is for.) I have zero plans for additional cards in the future. Thanks.
1. Capital One doesn't supply a FICO score, it supplies a Vantage 3.0 score, which is often very different.

2. All of the simulators are often wildly off base, and not meaningful.

3. The best way to optimize your utilization is: (a) have more than half of your cards report at zero; (b) let the other cards report at less than 10%.

Agreed, good advice.

Re: Utilization Question

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 03:05:14 GMT

Simulators are garbage. Never trust them.

You won't drop 70+ points, that's absurd. Perfect example of how off similators can be.

You'd be taking your aggregate utilization from 7% to 11% give or take. AT MOST I could see this impacting a profile maybe 10 points... perhaps 20 if it was a very thin file which I doubt based on your overall limits. 70 is laugable.