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I was wondering if your FICO score is based on your current credit utilization or if they look at the average utilization for a given period. Ive had a credit card for about a year and a half and when I first got it I had a crappy $300 credit limit, with such a low credit limit I couldnt help but come close to maxing it out when a big purchase had to be made. I never maxed it out or went over but I probably came close to 90% a couple times and definitely spent several months with it over 50%.
Since the limit was so small it wasnt hard at all to pay the entire thing off quickly, so for the past 6 months or so Ive had it under 30% and a few months with no balance. They automatically raised my limit up to $700 while I was keeping it around 0.
Right now I have 2 cards with a combined util of like 6%. Will my FICO score be based on my current balance or will the score be hurt by my high util months of 2007? I tried a couple different FICO "calculators" online and they said my credit score is between 735-785, but they only asked my current balance rather than if I ever had a balance use up more than x% of my limit.
Your utilization is only what you're carrying right now... but other details do show up on your credit report, like what your highest balance on a particular card has been.
I don't think that's detail matters in your FICO score but I've always wondered if the CCC will look at that number and consider it when they consider granting you a CLI.