Which of the following scenarios is best?

[Taoron]

Which of the below (sad) scenarios is better?  (Not saying that you'd ever want to do either, but it's a hypothetical question.)

1) Have one card run 60% util

or

2)  Have two cards have 30% util

[Anonymous]

Probably the second

[heyarrnold]

I would also say the second one. 

[Anonymous]

If you're not paying in full, it depends on the interest rates. Your credit score shouldn't be the concern in this scenario, as if you PIF, you can reduce the one time score loss of the high util and if you don't, the actually money lost from interest trumps the score loss.

As a strictly academic matter, I think the drop from one card at 60% would be worse than two at 30%.

[Anonymous]

It depends. Great response right? But another factor to consider is that fico scoring also takes into account how many cards have a balance. Another "it depends" factor is that overall utilization is weighed more heavily than single account utilization, so total credit matters in your question as well. More insight into the hypothetical profile would definitely be needed in order to give a more accurate answer.

[NRB525]

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@Taoron wrote:

Which of the below (sad) scenarios is better?  (Not saying that you'd ever want to do either, but it's a hypothetical question.)

1) Have one card run 60% util

or

2)  Have two cards have 30% util

---

3) What are the APR on the two cards?

4) What are the CL on the two cards?

I suspect if this is a 2-card wallet, that they are going to be about the same, or so close as to be indistinguishable.

Having only one card report has some benefits over two cards reporting.

If your overall utilization is at 30%, that is a significant portion of the drag on scores all by itself. Whether that is on one card over 30% and less than 80%, or two cards at 30%, I'd guess it's a minor difference at that point. The one card over 50% is the factor that would be most difficult to forecast. My June score increases, when overall balances got closer to and perhaps slightly below 20%, but all of the last over 50% balances came down below 50% at the same time, was a significant increase. One of the keys though, total utilization was well below 30%.

So, OP, when can we expect a report back when you put this hypothetical into practice

As with all these questions, if the balances are being carried at 0% promo rates, then the FICO score is not relevant to the discussion. Save the cash interest cost first.

[Taoron]

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@NRB525 wrote:

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@Taoron wrote:

Which of the below (sad) scenarios is better?  (Not saying that you'd ever want to do either, but it's a hypothetical question.)

1) Have one card run 60% util

or

2)  Have two cards have 30% util

---

3) What are the APR on the two cards?

4) What are the CL on the two cards?

I suspect if this is a 2-card wallet, that they are going to be about the same, or so close as to be indistinguishable.

Having only one card report has some benefits over two cards reporting.

If your overall utilization is at 30%, that is a significant portion of the drag on scores all by itself. Whether that is on one card over 30% and less than 80%, or two cards at 30%, I'd guess it's a minor difference at that point. The one card over 50% is the factor that would be most difficult to forecast. My June score increases, when overall balances got closer to and perhaps slightly below 20%, but all of the last over 50% balances came down below 50% at the same time, was a significant increase. One of the keys though, total utilization was well below 30%.

So, OP, when can we expect a report back when you put this hypothetical into practice

As with all these questions, if the balances are being carried at 0% promo rates, then the FICO score is not relevant to the discussion. Save the cash interest cost first.

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This was more of a curiosity thing.  I was reading that you should let one card report less than 10% and the rest report $0 balance, for optimal score.  Also read that you don't want to be above 30% either.    I can't imagine ever running 60% util on any of the cards I have. 

This really doesn't matter since scores fluctuate anyway.  If you did have a 60% util somehow report on your credit, it will only affect your credit score until you pay it off or below the threshold.

I am actually not in the situation where I run 60% util (or 30% util, for that matter) on any card.  I use one card every month, and then pay it off to $5 balance to let it report each month before statement hits. 

[takeshi74]

It's not just the FICO score that matters with utilization but risk assessment as well.  Short term high utilization generally isn't an issue but prolonged high utilization can lead to adverse action.

As for which is "best" -- as always with the word you need to clarify exactly what you mean by "best".  Best in what way?  Scoring?  Risk assessment?  Least interest paid?  Other considerations?

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@Taoron wrote:

I was reading that you should let one card report less than 10% and the rest report $0 balance, for optimal score. 

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IIRC lower utilization matters more than fewer balances.  This is only anecdotal but the majority of my (12) cards report balances and my FICO 8's are right around 800 with each CRA.

[Anonymous]

I would probably go with the two card option. Just be sure if you aren't paying them both off all of the way that you can afford the 2 different min payments.

[Anonymous]

#2