@TiminCO wrote:
Maybe I could pay $200 before statement cuts, that way utilization is around 19%, then pay remaining balance after?
There are various schools of thought on this, but I personally would avoid making multiple payments a month unless you just had to. (The one notable exception here is Capital One, who historically doesn't "mind" multiple payments a month).
Unless you have other reasons for doing so (to free up your credit line for a large purchase, etc.) I would keep it to one payment per month.
If you make multiple payments in a month nothing 'bad' will likely happen, it's just that in certain circumstances it can make them look more closely at your account (multiple monthly payments are associated with certain types of fraud). Again, this isn't meant to alarm, it's just that I'm personally of the opinion of "why give them a reason to examine me more closely?"
Just my 2¢. 
UncleB,
You are as fair as you are wise. That is something I did not consider.
@UncleB wrote:
@TiminCO wrote:
Maybe I could pay $200 before statement cuts, that way utilization is around 19%, then pay remaining balance after?There are various schools of thought on this, but I personally would avoid making multiple payments a month unless you just had to. (The one notable exception here is Capital One, who historically doesn't "mind" multiple payments a month).
Unless you have other reasons for doing so (to free up your credit line for a large purchase, etc.) I would keep it to one payment per month.
If you make multiple payments in a month nothing 'bad' will likely happen, it's just that in certain circumstances it can make them look more closely at your account (multiple monthly payments are associated with certain types of fraud). Again, this isn't meant to alarm, it's just that I'm personally of the opinion of "why give them a reason to examine me more closely?"
Just my 2¢.
So wait, making multiple payments a month is a no no? I've been doing this for over 10yrs. I just don't understand sometimes 
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@TiminCO wrote:
Maybe I could pay $200 before statement cuts, that way utilization is around 19%, then pay remaining balance after?There are various schools of thought on this, but I personally would avoid making multiple payments a month unless you just had to. (The one notable exception here is Capital One, who historically doesn't "mind" multiple payments a month).
Unless you have other reasons for doing so (to free up your credit line for a large purchase, etc.) I would keep it to one payment per month.
If you make multiple payments in a month nothing 'bad' will likely happen, it's just that in certain circumstances it can make them look more closely at your account (multiple monthly payments are associated with certain types of fraud). Again, this isn't meant to alarm, it's just that I'm personally of the opinion of "why give them a reason to examine me more closely?"
Just my 2¢.
So wait, making multiple payments a month is a no no? I've been doing this for over 10yrs. I just don't understand sometimes
Nope, not really a 'no-no', it's just that if they are already looking at you for something else, it might make you stand out a bit more, that's all.
That being said, when it benefits me I don't hesitate to make more than a single payment, but I don't make a habit of making multiple payments each and every month.
Note also that different lenders have various sensitivity to this, with Capital One being quite 'notorious' for not only not minding multiple payments, many people even get CLIs from the additional usage that making multiple payments in a month allows.
In another thread here, I shared a link to an Experian white paper on bust out fraud; again it's not something most people have to worry about (as your example demonstrates, it's usually not a problem) but anybody wanting to 'stay off the radar' would probably prefer to make a single monthly payment, since that's what "most people" do. (Note that multiple payments in a month is just one of many things that might (or might not) get attention.)
Here's a link to the white paper if you want to take a look... some of the behaviors many of us here consider 'normal' would likely be flagged by the Experian model.
http://www.experian.com/assets/decision-analytics/white-papers/bust-out-fraud-white-paper.pdf
As I mentioned above, I'm not trying to alarm... in most cases you can safely make as many payments as you want. With my own accounts I generally keep it to one payment per month to minimize my chances of receiving special "attention". As with many things credit, it's YMMV. 
@UncleB wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@UncleB wrote:
@TiminCO wrote:
Maybe I could pay $200 before statement cuts, that way utilization is around 19%, then pay remaining balance after?There are various schools of thought on this, but I personally would avoid making multiple payments a month unless you just had to. (The one notable exception here is Capital One, who historically doesn't "mind" multiple payments a month).
Unless you have other reasons for doing so (to free up your credit line for a large purchase, etc.) I would keep it to one payment per month.
If you make multiple payments in a month nothing 'bad' will likely happen, it's just that in certain circumstances it can make them look more closely at your account (multiple monthly payments are associated with certain types of fraud). Again, this isn't meant to alarm, it's just that I'm personally of the opinion of "why give them a reason to examine me more closely?"
Just my 2¢.
So wait, making multiple payments a month is a no no? I've been doing this for over 10yrs. I just don't understand sometimes
Nope, not really a 'no-no', it's just that if they are already looking at you for something else, it might make you stand out a bit more, that's all.
That being said, when it benefits me I don't hesitate to make more than a single payment, but I don't make a habit of making multiple payments each and every month.
Note also that different lenders have various sensitivity to this, with Capital One being quite 'notorious' for not only not minding multiple payments, many people even get CLIs from the additional usage that making multiple payments in a month allows.
In another thread here, I shared a link to an Experian white paper on bust out fraud; again it's not something most people have to worry about (as your example demonstrates, it's usually not a problem) but anybody wanting to 'stay off the radar' would probably prefer to make a single monthly payment, since that's what "most people" do. (Note that multiple payments in a month is just one of many things that might (or might not) get attention.)
Here's a link to the white paper if you want to take a look... some of the behaviors many of us here consider 'normal' would likely be flagged by the Experian model.
http://www.experian.com/assets/decision-analytics/white-papers/bust-out-fraud-white-paper.pdf
As I mentioned above, I'm not trying to alarm... in most cases you can safely make as many payments as you want. With my own accounts I generally keep it to one payment per month to minimize my chances of receiving special "attention". As with many things credit, it's YMMV.
+1
And I think overall, whether you let a balance carry over or pay down before the statement cuts, as long as you show your ability to correctly handle and pay off the balances, you should be good. At least that is what my take is on it from what others have said.
@UncleB wrote:Nope, not really a 'no-no', it's just that if they are already looking at you for something else, it might make you stand out a bit more, that's all.
Right, and in the MS world, people have got unwanted atttention from payment from multiple sources. (This might come from the idea that in times of financial stress you might start using money from emergency saving accounts to pay your cc, so when an issuer sees a lot of new payment sources, it raises concern).
As UncleB says, probably any one of these things won't get you attention, so the added risk is only if they are looking at your account (such as when you ask for a CLI), several such factors might cause your account to be looked at anyway.
Great info guys, thanks!