Chase Statement Due Date / Pending Transactions Questions

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Yep you can pay Chase to $0 at any point and it will report zero.

Note: if all your credit cards report $0 balance, you will get dinged in FICO points until ONE card reports a balance < 8.9% but not $0.

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I would like to clarify that I always pay in full before the due date, I do not carry a balance, I just let my statement cut when I have a balance of $93.

I have only one card currently.

I am thinking of paying it down to $0 mid-cycle (between statements) and keep my utilization ratio between 1%~8.9% when the next statement generates.

Since my September score has decreased, paying off my balance would show them I am able to pay off my balance, so my credit score should raise a bit, I guess?

I am not sure if it actually works this way, though.

Will this technique help with my decreased score?

[LavishSpending]

You can pay more than the balance with Chase. Choose other amount, and type it in. I sometimes pay for balance plus pending or overpay more than balance plus pending if I know I'll be charging more soon and want certain amounts to post.

Regarding utilization: Unless you have a reason for max score in a particular month, keeping 1-9% UTL is really unnecessary. Actually in some cases it can hurt. When a creditor manually reviews, they may want to see examples of credit usage. If you always post little ot no usage by PIF early, you don't have the chance to demonstrate how you actually manage debt. This is a factor that has nothing to do with FICO score.

Also, based on all the info out there I've seen so far, FICO has no memory of of prior months. Therefore, you are not building a higher score month to month based on each prior month being at max potential by having lowest UTL. Rather the score is a snapshot based on a lot of factors, but it's a current calcuation based on factors right now regardless of prior calculations in prior months. Now I won't say that's 100% because no one knows the actual algorithms, but it's not something that seems to matter.

On the otherhand, there are things like Chase internal score (CARS) and AMEX use of Experian's trended data that look at factors beyond FICO and that may benefit from sometimes showing high balances and then paying them down with more than minimum payment.

The point is unless you really need your score high in a particular month, it may not be worth fretting over. Of course you decide what your goals are, but consider these factors.

[HeavenOhio]

pcgeek, take a moment to review post #3 for the procedure for paying in full and keeping your Chase card from reporting a zero balance.

As ABCD says, 8.9% or below optimizes your score. Or I should say a balance between $5 and 8.9% of your limit. The reason to aim for 8.9% is that anything above 9%, e.g. 9.0000000001%, rounds up to 10%. In other words, 9.0000000001% is no longer "below 10%." The reason to post at least $5 is that some lenders forgive small balances rather than bothering to bill you.

If you acquire more cards, come back and we'll tell you how to optimize your score for two cards or for three or more cards.

I'm glad the car rental worked out.

[Anonymous]

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@LavishSpending wrote:

You can pay more than the balance with Chase. Choose other amount, and type it in. I sometimes pay for balance plus pending or overpay more than balance plus pending if I know I'll be charging more soon and want certain amounts to post.

Regarding utilization: Unless you have a reason for max score in a particular month, keeping 1-9% UTL is really unnecessary. Actually in some cases it can hurt. When a creditor manually reviews, they may want to see examples of credit usage. If you always post little ot no usage by PIF early, you don't have the chance to demonstrate how you actually manage debt. This is a factor that has nothing to do with FICO score.

Also, based on all the info out there I've seen so far, FICO has no memory of of prior months. Therefore, you are not building a higher score month to month based on each prior month being at max potential by having lowest UTL. Rather the score is a snapshot based on a lot of factors, but it's a current calcuation based on factors right now regardless of prior calculations in prior months. Now I won't say that's 100% because no one knows the actual algorithms, but it's not something that seems to matter.

On the otherhand, there are things like Chase internal score (CARS) and AMEX use of Experian's trended data that look at factors beyond FICO and that may benefit from sometimes showing high balances and then paying them down with more than minimum payment.

The point is unless you really need your score high in a particular month, it may not be worth fretting over. Of course you decide what your goals are, but consider these factors.

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Thanks for the explanations!

I am new to credit and is trying to figure out how it works.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhio wrote:

pcgeek, take a moment to review post #3 for the procedure for paying in full and keeping your Chase card from reporting a zero balance.

As ABCD says, 8.9% or below optimizes your score. Or I should say a balance between $5 and 8.9% of your limit. The reason to aim for 8.9% is that anything above 9%, e.g. 9.0000000001%, rounds up to 10%. In other words, 9.0000000001% is no longer "below 10%." The reason to post at least $5 is that some lenders forgive small balances rather than bothering to bill you.

If you acquire more cards, come back and we'll tell you how to optimize your score for two cards or for three or more cards.

I'm glad the car rental worked out.

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I see. The utilization ratio is rounded to the nearest integer.

That makes sense.

Thanks!