It's insanity to many of us to request CLDs, but your reasons for doing so should be applauded.
The Bank of America score is a true FICO 08 score based on TransUnion data. Yes, Bank of America reports the statement balance on the card each month - it may take a few days for each of the credit reporting agencies to update, though. Assuming these are your only two cards, having higher balances will certainly cause your scores to lower (possibly by a good bit) if they report statement balances that are higher than certain benchmarks (like 10% and 30%). Paying them down or off before your statement cuts will eliminate that.
As for the flexible spending, usually the BoA cards DO have that feature and it's usually about 20% or so above your credit limit. However, I would make sure that even though your card says Visa Signature that you didn't lose that designation with your CLD. BoA is usually pretty strict about Visa Signature products requiring a $5,000 minimum credit line.
@K-in-Boston wrote:
The Bank of America score is a true FICO 08 score based on TransUnion data....*snip*...BoA is usually pretty strict about Visa Signature products requiring a $5,000 minimum credit line.
Thanks for the info. I guess I'll see what happens to my score in the coming months. From what I've read, the utilization portion of the score is month-to-month (or report-to-report) so, reported high utilization one period won't drop the score the following period if utilization is then reported low. Is this correct? I'm not planning on applying for anything in the coming future (I'm very conservative about credit), nor will I request any CLIs, so a momentary lower score shouldn't be an issue unless it spooks an existing creditor. If my TU FICO08 is currently 823, I doubt even 100% utilization would drop it below the mid 700s, right?
I didn't mention in my OP that I also have a HELOC ($50K line w/about 46% utilization right now), but I don't think the CB counts these the same as far as utilization goes... if they did my FICO 08 would probably be a lot lower. I also have a car loan (will be paying this off next week to sell the car). I had a mortgage but I used the HELOC to refinance it and that was closed in late December.
I guess we'll see what happens with my Visa Sig. I don't use the Signature features so if they downgrade me I don't really care, and since I'm using the CL as a spending limit I don't want NPSL anyway. 
My guess is next time a replacement or renewal card is issued it will change, if it does.
Forgive me, but I'm going to red text a response again...
@Anonymous wrote:
@K-in-Boston wrote:
The Bank of America score is a true FICO 08 score based on TransUnion data....*snip*...BoA is usually pretty strict about Visa Signature products requiring a $5,000 minimum credit line.
Thanks for the info. I guess I'll see what happens to my score in the coming months. From what I've read, the utilization portion of the score is month-to-month (or report-to-report) so, reported high utilization one period won't drop the score the following period if utilization is then reported low. Is this correct?
Your credit scores can (and mine do) change daily depending on what's on them at that moment. Your scores could be down to 785 because a single card posted with a fairly high utilization, but then your new statement cuts with it paid off and it could shoot up 30 points.
I'm not planning on applying for anything in the coming future (I'm very conservative about credit), nor will I request any CLIs, so a momentary lower score shouldn't be an issue unless it spooks an existing creditor. If my TU FICO08 is currently 823, I doubt even 100% utilization would drop it below the mid 700s, right?
If you are not applying for credit, you have a LOT of leeway with your current scores. Every profile is different, so the same factor like a late payment, a new account, or increased utilization will affect everyone differently. Someone with a 610 score that gets a 30 day late will lose some points, someone with an 800 that gets that same late payment could see their scores plummet! 100% utilization really hurts on a single card. Yes, it's possible that 100% on a single card would likely cause you to fall into the mid-700s, but it may also spook your other lenders as you mentioned. Some lenders scare easily (looking at you, Barclaycard). Anything above 89% is considered "maxed out." Now 100% on all of your cards would easily cause you to go from a near perfect score to subprime territory instantly!
I didn't mention in my OP that I also have a HELOC ($50K line w/about 46% utilization right now), but I don't think the CB counts these the same as far as utilization goes... if they did my FICO 08 would probably be a lot lower. I also have a car loan (will be paying this off next week to sell the car). I had a mortgage but I used the HELOC to refinance it and that was closed in late December.
A HELOC is typically excluded from FICO's utilization calculations, correct. When you pay your car loan off, you may lose some points. Seems counter-intuitive, but a paid loan doesn't help like an almost-paid loan. If you have no other installment accounts, you may want to consider a share secured loan from a credit union in the future as the credit mix part of FICO scoring can suffer without an open installment loan reporting. Of course you are already in fantastic scoring territory, and while YMMV there's usually not much if any difference in the real world when it comes to approvals and terms between a 740 and an 840.
I guess we'll see what happens with my Visa Sig. I don't use the Signature features so if they downgrade me I don't really care, and since I'm using the CL as a spending limit I don't want NPSL anyway.
That would be my guess, as well, although they should have explained to you that the terms of your credit card agreement would change as a result of lowering the credit line. At least it's good to know that when you do decide to trust yourself (and again, kudos on being able to admit that and tackle it head-on!), with a few keystrokes you can easily get those limits back.
Thanks again... and no problem with red texting a response... it's actually easier to follow that way.
That's a bit scary about high utilization... it makes me wonder what my scores were in the 1997-2005 timeframe when my only card was the $500 CL Mastercard, and I often maxed it out (and then PIF). I even got a car loan and a mortgage during those years, and it didn't appear to cause issues getting approved for those... or the Visa (w/$5k SL) in 2005.
Of course, the real formula seems to be kept a secret, and I would think maxing out a $500 CL card but still having a low balance on a $2000 CL card wouldn't hurt the score as much as if both cards (or just the $2000 one) were maxed out.
In reality, I'll be closely monitoring both cards and paying them down before the statement cut date if the balance is getting high... depending on usage I may have to make 2 payments/month on each. What will be tricky is travel, especially if it's on short notice.. I can zero-out the cards before a planned trip but in an emergency, yikes. In a year or two when I've gotten the savings account replenished some more I can always request a CLI on the Visa to get a little more breathing room, or get a 3rd card with a higher limit that spends most of its time in a sock drawer and only comes out to play for trips or the rare large purchase.
As I've said, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to credit. I won't even get a car loan if I can avoid it. My CR has never had many open accounts on it. There have been times when the only open TLs on it were a credit card or two. And I don't really care that much about my scores as long as they stay in the good to excellent range.
Congrats. I think your post probably sums up what you are looking forward to in credit so ill refrain from getting in the self cld'ing aspect and hope any follow up post do the same. Im sure it would spark a 10 page thread on the pros and cons, should ir should not. K's response is a great one and is very knowlegable on credit matters. Best wishes for continued credit health
One thing iv learned is that you do whatever works for you... That said. i would have only CLD'ed down to 5K.. (yes i do think about utilization). And since theres only 2 cards coulda forced myself into self control... Reason behind that. is yes, utilization but remember that 5k point is somewhat a magic number... (not just for the sig/flex spending, also at least what I was told.. other creditors will consider it a moderate limit ) If you did need another card for a major expense... with a card showing at 5k youd be able to get that kinda financing.... and not have to worry so much as to if youd get enough.. sometimes cc are a lot easier than a loan for a short term fix... esp if you dont want to entirely drain your savings... But thats me...
Kudos on the 800 club but id still be a little leery about how strong that 800 is... but your right. most folks dont need a handful of cards to get to 800 .. its just a much slower road... Saw that with a family member who had 1 card for quite some time.. did convince them for 2 other cards however and the value of simple rewards.. Score actually went up even more in a few months...
-J
My priority right now is getting my savings account replenished, not shooting for the stars FICO-wise. In order to do this, I had to put hard limits on my spending, hence the CLDs. I've always preferred not to have high limits on my cards, for various reasons. The only reason I even had a 16.5K limit on the Visa was because of automatic CLIs over the years... I put a stop to this by having them suppressed on both cards.
Years ago, before I learned how FICO scores worked, I thought having fewer accounts and lower limits were better for scores (lower risks), so I went that route. Now I know the opposite is actually true, but I still prefer to take the conservative route.
Before I got married, I was a bit reckless with running up the cards, and I would get to a point where I was carrying a large balance every month, and with auto CLIs I couldn't even rely on the limit keeping me from running it up higher. So, around 1995-1996 I cut up my last remaining card and paid it off over a year or so, and decided to swear off credit completely. When I needed a CC to rent a car in 1997 during my honeymoon, I got the Mastercard I still have today, which I had reduced to $500 immediately after getting it. Over the years it eventually went up to $1000, and then it hit $3000 last week, which prompted my CLD call, since this card has always been my "monthly allowance" card so I kept the limit low and I can't afford to run it up any higher than that.
While I was on the phone I also reduced the Visa limit since that was the card that was always getting run up to where I'd have to raid the savings account to pay it off. I also had automatic CLIs suppressed on both cards, so I don't have to worry about those either.
Keeping a 800+ FICO is secondary to keeping my spending in check. I'm done applying for anything credit related for now, so in the near term the score doesn't matter that much anyway. Paying the cards before the statement cuts will help me keep my reported utilization down, while still allowing me to use the full amount of credit on the cards.