29% utilization ($290 on a $1,000 limit) is considered responsible borrowing. 9% utilization will optimize your FICO score. Because percentages round up (e.g. 9.000001% is treated as 10%), think of the numbers this way:
8.9% is optimum.
28.9% is good.
Anything over 88.9% is maxed and considered bad, bad, bad.
Most cards report monthly statement balances to the credit bureaus. I assume DCU is among them. Chase and US Bank report a little differently. If you eventually acquire cards from either of those banks, let is know, and we'll fill you in on the details.
Use your DCU card as much as you want, but try to get it down to 28.9% utilization or 8.9% utilization just before your statememt cuts. That will cause your VantageScores to improve markedly, and it will cause you to have reasonably decent FICO scores once you have them.
The good news is that high utilization can be fixed quickly, i.e. as soon as your next statement cuts. You're doing the most important thing already, which is paying on time. A 30-day late isn't easy to fix.
The best tack to keep your score in check is for one card to report a low balance with two other cards reporting zero. As we've mentioned, you can use the cards a lot. But do make mid-cycle payments to bring these numbers down at statement time.
CreditOne sucks as a lender, but since having three or more cards is optimal for scoring, I'd keep it until you can replace it. If your inquries are in decent shape, you should be able to do that once you have FICO scores in a couple of months. How many inquiries do you currently have on each bureau? Karma gives you that information for Equifax and TransUnion. You can see your Experian inquiries by signing up for credit.com.
Once you have six months of history, there are numerous options for seeing your FICO scores. An easy way to get all three FICO8s along with reports is to sign up for a $1 trial at CreditCheck Total and canceling before the trial is up.
