Utilization/PIF/Payment timing to maximize fico

[zyzzus]

I have 6 CCs and am wanting to know the best way to keep my fico at its best via payment timing and utilization across them.

I believe I've seen that having all the cards but 1 report 0 balance and having the one card report $1. If this is true to achieve this I need to PIF before the statement cuts?

I appreciate the help with this if I need to provide more information I can thank you.

[Brandnick]

a Credit card company takes a picture of your credit card once a month which is called the close/ cut date that information is used to create a billing statement. The day they take that picture is your reporting ulitization

Your ulitization is based upon total credit amongst all you 6 cards so as long as you are 1-9% you are fine

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@zyzzus wrote:

I have 6 CCs and am wanting to know the best way to keep my fico at its best via payment timing and utilization across them.

I believe I've seen that having all the cards but 1 report 0 balance and having the one card report $1. If this is true to achieve this I need to PIF before the statement cuts?

I appreciate the help with this if I need to provide more information I can thank you.

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It really depends. Most scores don't calculate the amount of cards with balances, and just care about utilization. Other scores, including some FICO scores, consider how many cards have balances. Also, if you plan on applying for a new card or especially loans, they look to see (or have scores that consider) how many accounts have balances on them.

If you want to go for gold, and want to use each card every month, use them for one or a few purchases then PIF way before the new statement will generate so that it reports a 0 balance. And it's not necessarily $1 you want to report, but 1% of your total credit limits. So if you have $10,000 in available credit among all your cards, have one card (preferably your highest limit card) report at or around $100 to maximize points. 0%, though not terrible, will not maximize FICO points due to the fact that creditors can't judge how likely you are to pay back and use a limit responsibily if you don't use available credit at all!

[distantarray]

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@Brandnick wrote:

a Credit card company takes a picture of your credit card once a month called the close/ cut date that information is used to create a billing statement. The day they take that picture is your reporting ulitization

Your ulitization is based upon total credit amongst all you 6 cards so as long as you are 1-9% you are fine

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also remember the Fico will ding your score even if you owe $1 across multiple cards, since the minimum payments will be reported as so it'll work against your income to debt ratio, especially if your applying for a car/mortgage.

For instance if they're trying to find your income / debt ratio owing even $1 across multiple cards will make the systems assume you have to make the minimum payments on each accounts. So let's say $25 per each account. So by owing that $1 on 6 cards you'll be reported you have a monthly expense of atleast $300 a month which is retarded for only owing $6.

So pay in full before the statement hits, leave 2% of your CL used on 1 account then your fine. this is considered optimal

It just sucks cause you'll want to avoid using certain cards for a few days of the month, I'm tempted to get a Charge card for these few days lol, I'll probably get a platinum later.

[daybreakgonesXe]

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@distantarray wrote:

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@Brandnick wrote:

a Credit card company takes a picture of your credit card once a month called the close/ cut date that information is used to create a billing statement. The day they take that picture is your reporting ulitization

Your ulitization is based upon total credit amongst all you 6 cards so as long as you are 1-9% you are fine

---

also remember the Fico will ding your score even if you owe $1 across multiple cards, since the minimum payments will be reported as so it'll work against your income to debt ratio, especially if your applying for a car/mortgage.

For instance if they're trying to find your income / debt ratio owing even $1 across multiple cards will make the systems assume you have to make the minimum payments on each accounts. So let's say $25 per each account. So by owing that $1 on 6 cards you'll be reported you have a monthly expense of atleast $300 a month which is retarded for only owing $6.

So pay in full before the statement hits, leave 2% of your CL used on 1 account then your fine. this is considered optimal

It just sucks cause you'll want to avoid using certain cards for a few days of the month, I'm tempted to get a Charge card for these few days lol, I'll probably get a platinum later.

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Actually distantarray, in my experience having $1 across every card would mean my minimum payment is just that: $1 on each. Though not ideal to say the least because looking from it number blind it would seem like you have balances on every card, if you read through the report, your total monthly payment would be $6! Most, if not all, credit cards won't charge you more than your balance on any particular statement as long as it's less than the minimum payment! This small balance is then reported as the minimum payment for that statement on reports.

[zyzzus]

Thank you for all the replies this all makes sense.

I'll have my high limit card (Fidelity Amex) report a 1% balance when the statement cuts and the remaineder of the cards pay in full before the statement cuts.  I'll have to stagger my due dates to accomplish this but I believe it is more clear to me now. 

I don't plan to apply for anything in the near future but I like to do things the best way possible a little OCD

[Mustangfrank]

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It just sucks cause you'll want to avoid using certain cards for a few days of the month, I'm tempted to get a Charge card for these few days lol, I'll probably get a platinum later.

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Yup, That is what I do with my Amex Zync charge card towards the end of the month as tcharge cards do not report  balances.

If you can move your due dates around so they work well with your financial payment schedule it makes thing easier also.

On my way to 800 I found 2% on one card was the sweet spot.

[distantarray]

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@daybreakgonesXe wrote:

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@distantarray wrote:

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@Brandnick wrote:

a Credit card company takes a picture of your credit card once a month called the close/ cut date that information is used to create a billing statement. The day they take that picture is your reporting ulitization

Your ulitization is based upon total credit amongst all you 6 cards so as long as you are 1-9% you are fine

---

also remember the Fico will ding your score even if you owe $1 across multiple cards, since the minimum payments will be reported as so it'll work against your income to debt ratio, especially if your applying for a car/mortgage.

For instance if they're trying to find your income / debt ratio owing even $1 across multiple cards will make the systems assume you have to make the minimum payments on each accounts. So let's say $25 per each account. So by owing that $1 on 6 cards you'll be reported you have a monthly expense of atleast $300 a month which is retarded for only owing $6.

So pay in full before the statement hits, leave 2% of your CL used on 1 account then your fine. this is considered optimal

It just sucks cause you'll want to avoid using certain cards for a few days of the month, I'm tempted to get a Charge card for these few days lol, I'll probably get a platinum later.

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Actually distantarray, in my experience having $1 across every card would mean my minimum payment is just that: $1 on each. Though not ideal to say the least because looking from it number blind it would seem like you have balances on every card, if you read through the report, your total monthly payment would be $6! Most, if not all, credit cards won't charge you more than your balance on any particular statement as long as it's less than the minimum payment! This small balance is then reported as the minimum payment for that statement on reports.

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i dunno but my experience was different, a $2   $5   $7 balances reported on cards I rarely use, I churn them once every 2-3 months to keep them active (not mine my parent's) but since I'm an AU it reported on mine, and said my minimum payments were up and stated as $75 extra for the month driving my score down, Regardless of who's right or wrong doesn't really matter since the differences are miniscule, We all know reporting small balance on 1 card is the best way to go that's been tried and tested to be true =)   

Btw it's easier to do this by changing the payment due date on each cards to a certain date. I have all mine set for the 17th of the month (chase allows you to change online so work them around others who might be harder to do or won't change the date)

that way the statement cuts on the 17th so I send all my payments on the 12-15th (incase of weekends/holidays etc) I set autopay to pay balance in full, and have another bank to pay $25 each month to each card, better to over pay than to possibly miss a payment through a bank mistake on autopay (been known to happen once in a while)

[Jayleesmimi]

I agree with letting 1 or 2% of your CL report for optimum scoring and other cards showing 0. But there is a downside to letting cards show 0 each month. In my experience, when I rock along showing 0 balances each month because I PIF, if I ever show a balance on one of those when my statement cuts, I get hit about 8 pts because suddenly Im showing activity on them.  I lost about 20 pts in 2012 because of suddenly using an "inactive card" even though I use them every week but had PIF.

Doesn't seem right. Just wanted to put that out there.  My scores are near or at 800, so it really doesn't hurt me much, buts irritates me more!