Reporting <9% or 0 when applying for new CC

[youngman1234]

Hello All,

I just paid off all my cc (16 of them) all show a 0 balance On the revolving ones. I one gold Amex reporting a 182 balance, but forgot when paying them off I should have left one with a small balance... Is it ok to apply or will I get denied because I have no balance on any revolving accounts.. Need advice ???

[Anonymous]

It's best to have all cards reporting 0% with 1 card reporting 1-9% and keep in mind that except for old FICO models, your AMEX charge card won't count towards your UTIL. However, as with everything credit/FICO related, YMMV.

[pizzadude]

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@youngman1234 wrote:
Hello All,

I just paid off all my cc (16 of them) all show a 0 balance On the revolving ones. I one gold Amex reporting a 182 balance, but forgot when paying them off I should have left one with a small balance... Is it ok to apply or will I get denied because I have no balance on any revolving accounts.. Need advice ???

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Can I ask why you need a 17th credit card ?  All 16 others are still open, is that correct ?

I wouldn't think that it would be an issue that your cards are paid.

[Anonymous]

Haha wow 16 cards...completely skipped over that part. Yes, why do you need more cards? I would try to garden your existing TLs and go for CLIs if you need more credit.

[Creditaddict]

If you have 16 now, can you list what you have now and limits and what you want to get?

[Walt_K]

Maybe he wants a signup bonus.  Maybe there's a new card that fits his spending profile better.  Lots of reasons to get another card. 

I don't think it will be an issue that your cards are all paid off.  Having one card show a small balance will give you a slightly better score.  But if your scores are fine anyway, it shouldn't matter.

[Chris123nTx]

I had an 8 point bump when i inadvertantly had a small charge report on a second card. I had always gone with the one card balance thing too, but after seeing my score go up with a second card reporting a small balance, i cant help but think the one card rule is flawed

[pizzadude]

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@Chris123nTx wrote:
I had an 8 point bump when i inadvertantly had a small charge report on a second card. I had always gone with the one card balance thing too, but after seeing my score go up with a second card reporting a small balance, i cant help but think the one card rule is flawed

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It's not a rule, so much as it is the best starting point for most people.   People who need to tweak their FICO score can start there and experiment with different utilization percentages and # of cards to find their individual utilization sweet spot.

[Cdnewmanpac]

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@youngman1234 wrote:
Hello All,

I just paid off all my cc (16 of them) all show a 0 balance On the revolving ones. I one gold Amex reporting a 182 balance, but forgot when paying them off I should have left one with a small balance... Is it ok to apply or will I get denied because I have no balance on any revolving accounts.. Need advice ???

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1. While having a small balance report on one card may boost your FICO a few points, you are unlikely to get rejected due to having current zero balances. The only way it would be an issue is if the computer has a hard FICO floor and this difference pushes you under it. While FICO sees having a small balance as good, I've seen no evidence that credit card companies do.

2. You have posted across several forums about your intention to add a 17th card (I believe a card for your new business) and you have stated that the worst thing that can happen is rejection. I just wanted to caution that, in your situation, a rejection is not the worst thing that could happen. The worst thing would be to get approved, but with a low limit. This would reduce your AAoA, reduce your FICO score and reduce the chances that one of your existing creditors will give you a CLI. I'm not saying that is what is going to happen, but in the long run you may find yourself having a hard time getting the limits you need because you have spread your total potential debt across so many accounts.

3. If the only reason you need the 17th card is because you need to push a bunch of money through the card next month, why not at least try the AMEX expenditure button and see what it says? You may already have the capacity, but adding the 17th card may be the straw that break's AMEX patience (sorry, mixed metaphor). Just a thought.

[LS2982]

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@youngman1234 wrote:
Hello All,

I just paid off all my cc (16 of them) all show a 0 balance On the revolving ones. I one gold Amex reporting a 182 balance, but forgot when paying them off I should have left one with a small balance... Is it ok to apply or will I get denied because I have no balance on any revolving accounts.. Need advice ???

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I would have at least 1 report a balance first. Not sure if a Charge card in the eyes of a creditor is sufficient.