Negative Statement Balance - Question

[s_haliz]

Need advice. My statement balace would be -900.00. That means I have a credit balance with the credit card company for the amount of $900.00. Due to a refund of a large ticket item and paying my past statement balance in full, this situation happened. My credit limit on this particular card is $20,000.00 

Question to you all:

Does this negative statement balance on this credit card would affect my credit score negatively? I know we all strive for 10% utilization (or lower) and in some case no balance at all ($0.00 statement balance). In this situation it is $900.00 below $0.00 balance. Since utilzation can not be less than zero, would credit beaureaus count this as 0% utilization? 

Please express your opinion. Thank you in advance.  

[waters]

It will show up as 0 balance.

[FinStar]

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@waters wrote:
It will show up as 0 balance.

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+1

Negative/Credit balance conditions are not reported, just a 0 balance.

[CreditMagic7]

It's fine. Happens a lot. When i do that i eventually run enough spend to catch it up. I have had mailed checks from lenders though if it stays that way too long. Depends on the lender.

[s_haliz]

Thank you for the responses. Now that it is confirmed that it would be reported as a $0.00 balance, would it be the best for boosting your score or some balance (let say 3% or $600.00) would help boost your score? With this zero balance my overall utilization across all cards would be (total utilization) less than 1%. 

How would a lender see this situation when you apply for new credit card? I know it depends on many other factors too. 

[s_haliz]

One of the other question comes to my mind is: 

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?  

[dilettante]

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@s_haliz wrote:

One of the other question comes to my mind is: 

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?  

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Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made.  So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from?  Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

[s_haliz]

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@dilettante wrote:

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@s_haliz wrote:

One of the other question comes to my mind is: 

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?  

---

Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made.  So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from?  Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

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When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used. 

Anyone else have a comment on this? 

[dilettante]

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@s_haliz wrote:

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@dilettante wrote:

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@s_haliz wrote:

One of the other question comes to my mind is: 

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?  

---

Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made.  So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from?  Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

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When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used. 

Anyone else have a comment on this? 

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Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid".  That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid.  I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.  

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before.  For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut.  The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.

[s_haliz]

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@dilettante wrote:

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@s_haliz wrote:

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@dilettante wrote:

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@s_haliz wrote:

One of the other question comes to my mind is: 

If the balance is reported as "$0.00" to the credit agencies (EX, TU, EQ), then how do other lenders know whether this card is a dormant card (not used) or used but paid in full before statement cuts?  

---

Experian is one CB that reports monthly minimum due as well as amount of payment made.  So on that report at least, they would be able to see that a certain catd is being used.

Are you trying to get your reports ready for a specific lender that you want a card from?  Or are you after a specific CL, CLI?

---

When the statememt balance is $0.00, the minimum payment due would be $0.00 as well. Now not sure if that would give a hint to lender that this card was used. 

Anyone else have a comment on this? 

---

Actually, if you look at a report from Experian, on each account, it lists in the balance history section for each account: "account balance/date payment received/scheduled payment amount/actual amount paid".  That what I was referring to because on my reports, though it states that it's a $0 balance, it shows how much $ i paid.  I'm sure anyone looking at the report could deduce that that the card is being used.  

The reports also always list highest balance on the card so at least they will know how much you've charged on that card before.  For example, I just opened a Barclay Arrival card last month. I charged $17k on the card the first day and a bit more but paid it off before the statement cut.  The statement was for $0 but when I look at my CB report, the high balance showed on the report as $18k and my limit as 20k.

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In my Experian report, all I can see by month is: Statement Balance/Minimum Payment". It is not saying anything else. It shows high limit of course. It also going to show "OK" on each month which is interpreted as 'Paid as Agree"...Meaning you might have paid in full your balance before due date or just the minimum payment or in-between. 

I am fully agree with your second paragraph. I know all CBs are now reporting the high balance (say if my statement balance is $500 but if I had used another $1,200 the following month and that's day CC chose to report to CB, my high balance would be $1,700). And if my previous high balance is say $2,950, this $1,700 would be suppressed by $2,950. Meaning my high balance would still be $2,950...That shows what is the highest I had ever charged to my credit card.