high utl on 1 card or spread utl to many ?

[Bay_Area_Joe]

Kind of a general question.

Lets say I have my B of A visa, 20k limit and my Pen Fed Visa with a 20k limit.

If the total balance you had to carry for a few months(regardless of the reason) was 15k.

Is it better to put it on one card and have it report with 75% utl or better to split it across two cards so that each card wouls 37.5% utl ?

Overall utl across all credit cards would only be 7.5%.

I might have to do this to cover my Tax bill this year until I can get some of my accounts receivables to come that are due.

Thanks

J

[myjourney]

Split card UTL

Here's the reason why 

If it's on one card you get double dinged in Fico scoring for high UTL and then again as maxed out

[Shock]

I dont think you can pay your tax bill on a credit card..

[myjourney]

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@Shock wrote:

I dont think you can pay your tax bill on a credit card..

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You sure can

[Shock]

i got screwed then

[myjourney]

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@Shock wrote:

i got screwed then

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Yeah you missed those points 

[newUser0]

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@Shock wrote:

i got screwed then

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What happened Shock?

[Shock]

I figured it was the government's money, so we could only pay ur tax balance wth check, money order or debit. Thats all.

[wacdenney]

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@myjourney wrote:

Split card UTL

Here's the reason why 

If it's on one card you get double dinged in Fico scoring for high UTL and then again as maxed out

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This of course assumes the OP is applying for credit soon and looking to maximize scoring.  Otherwise it may be better to go with the single card with the lowest interest rate.  One card could also be beneficial if you only want to make one minimum payment while you carry the balance rather than 3 or 4. 

When we take our vacation every summer, I carry that balance usually for 2 months so I try to keep it on as few cards as possible.  So I can pay the least in minimum payments before time comes to PIF and I stick with the cards with either the highest rewards or lowest rates.  Of course this means my scores do take a hit so I simply do not apply for new credit during this time.

[Anonymous]

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@myjourney wrote:

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@Shock wrote:

i got screwed then

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Yeah you missed those points 

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I can't speak to federal taxes specifically, but I know property taxes and a number of other governmental charging systems like for parking tickets, etc., carry an extra cost for paying by credit OR debit card, labeled as a convenience fee or a processing fee that I assume is for covering merchant fees. Sometimes it's as small as $2-$5 flat, other times it can be as a high as 2 or 3% of the amount being charged with a two-dollar charge tacked on. Unfortunately, I've found that the additional fees wipe out any cashback or point value that I might have gotten. It's only in cases like OP's where one needs to defer payment that paying by card is worth it.