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@Vegas247 wrote:Well what is the consensus here? I have 4 cards myself....I'm taking this as: let one card show a small utilization like 3 to 5% utilization, and the other 3 cards or however you may have, show a zero balance, for highest possible FICO SCORES....is that correct? Anyone?
Has anyone done a test where all the cards show a zero balance?
If I let all cards report a $0 balance, I lose 9 points.
It may be different for someone else.
@Vegas247 wrote:
Has anyone done a test where all the cards show a zero balance?
Yes, my score dropped 7 points when all cards reported 0.
So the conclusion here is to let 1 card have a small balance and the other cards report a $0 balance. Is that correct?
For scoring, yes.
For other purposes like auto CLIs, maybe not.
To add my own two cents, the effect of the number of cards carrying a balance on your score depends largely on your bucket.
If I report balances on 1/4 vs 4/4 open revolving cards there is absolutely no difference in my score with identical (to the dollar) utilization.
@Involver wrote:To add my own two cents, the effect of the number of cards carrying a balance on your score depends largely on your bucket.
If I report balances on 1/4 vs 4/4 open revolving cards there is absolutely no difference in my score with identical (to the dollar) utilization.
Are you talking about Fico or Fako scores. Fico score make hughes jumps but Fako stay the same for me as well. The bucket should not be making a difference - that would not be logic ..but what is logic in Fico
@lg8302ch wrote:
@Involver wrote:To add my own two cents, the effect of the number of cards carrying a balance on your score depends largely on your bucket.
If I report balances on 1/4 vs 4/4 open revolving cards there is absolutely no difference in my score with identical (to the dollar) utilization.
Are you talking about Fico or Fako scores. Fico score make hughes jumps but Fako stay the same for me as well. The bucket should not be making a difference - that would not be logic ..but what is logic in Fico
We are talking FICO scores here. In my case EQ04 FICOs.
I had a bucket change that caused a high degree of sensitivity to the number of CC (not charge card) accounts reporting balances. With scorewatch I was able to track FICO changes day by day. It was interesting! The following is from a post last year:
In early Jan I had a sudden FICO EQ drop, with no change in my credit report other than aging. Here's a before and after sequence, month by month, of FICO scores and UTIL as well as number of revolving CCs reporting a balance:
The Columns are Month, AAoA, OldestA, Number CCs reporting non zero balance, Util, and FICO
Oct 2.47 3.75 2 3% 756
Nov 2.55 3.83 3 12% 748
Dec 2.63 3.92 3 4% 757
*** Rebucket Occurs Here
Jan 2.72 4.00 3 3% 703
Feb 2.80 4.08 1 0% 755
Mar 2.88 4.17 3 11% 690
Apr 2.30 4.25 0 1% 764 (New Walmart card added - score jumped AAoA dropped)
@lg8302ch wrote:
@Involver wrote:To add my own two cents, the effect of the number of cards carrying a balance on your score depends largely on your bucket.
If I report balances on 1/4 vs 4/4 open revolving cards there is absolutely no difference in my score with identical (to the dollar) utilization.
Are you talking about Fico or Fako scores. Fico score make hughes jumps but Fako stay the same for me as well. The bucket should not be making a difference - that would not be logic ..but what is logic in Fico
EQ04 FICO
@user5387 wrote:For scoring, yes.
For other purposes like auto CLIs, maybe not.
And just a reminder that all this micromanaging can have a real cost. One of the attractive features of a credit card, outside any rewards, is the float, you are getting an interest free loan of the money for about 21 days after the statement closes. You lose that benefit (and thus any interest you may have made on the money) by paying early. If you aren't apping for something where your score really needs to be optimized, its not worth the potential loss.
@Vegas247 wrote:Well what is the consensus here? I have 4 cards myself....I'm taking this as: let one card show a small utilization like 3 to 5% utilization, and the other 3 cards or however you may have, show a zero balance, for highest possible FICO SCORES....is that correct? Anyone?
It's complicated to have a final conclusion for anything related credit, but my "current" conclusion, based on this thread, is that if you want to max your FICO score you better use the UNO strategy. I believe that is the best strategy in general, and I didn't believe that before this thread [thanks everyone for the education!].
However, when you are either establishing or re-establishing credit, first couple of years, it may serve you better to spread the love since all the cards you have are new and your banks have probably given you an especially low initial CL while they figure out how good with credit you are and how much more credit you deserve.
So, I guess, at the beginning of your journey you have a choice to make, and then the smart thing to do seems to go UNO for good.
Personally, I think that me, being ten months in, have benefited from spreading and will continue this for another four months, then I will do a couple of months of UNO an apply for the harder cards I want, and if I get them, return to spreading love until the second year ends and then UNO for the foreseeable future. So, that sounds like a plan to me, we'll see....