Advice needed: pay off 1 card or split between 2

[MrsBigBucks]

Hi! Looking for advice... I have 2 Navy Federal NavChek accounts both have about $7k charged on them. I have $8,000 to use towards paying these down. I'm trying to get my scores up. Currently Eq691 Tu705 Ex695.

Which would have the better impact to credit scores?  

Paying 1 balance in full or paying $4k on each?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[AllZero]

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@MrsBigBucks wrote:

Hi! Looking for advice... I have 2 Navy Federal NavChek accounts both have about $7k charged on them. I have $8,000 to use towards paying these down. I'm trying to get my scores up. Currently Eq691 Tu705 Ex695.

Which would have the better impact to credit scores?  

Paying 1 balance in full or paying $4k on each?

Thanks in advance for your help!

---

@MrsBigBucks   Not knowing your exact details, below are benchmarks for FICO 8.

Remember these aggregate utilization thresholds: 9%, 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%
Remember these individual utilization thresholds: 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%

If you're not crossing a threshold, you won't be getting points.

Ideally, you want your highest individual utilization to be under the threshold.

I would recommend reading the below from ABCD2199
The Truth about Credit Card Utilization
My 11 Rules to Credit Rebuilding
FICO Score: What to pay down first?

[MrsBigBucks]

@AllZero 

ok!! Thanks... that makes sense. So I'll split between both and it will take it from the 49% threshold to below 29%.

Thanks so much for the info!

[AllZero]

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@MrsBigBucks wrote:

@AllZero 

ok!! Thanks... that makes sense. So I'll split between both and it will take it from the 49% threshold to below 29%.

Thanks so much for the info!

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@MrsBigBucks  You are welcome. Note: EX2, TU4, EQ5 may require a different approach. If it's FICO 8/9 that is more important to you, then proceed.

[SPChaser]

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@AllZero wrote:

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@MrsBigBucks wrote:

Hi! Looking for advice... I have 2 Navy Federal NavChek accounts both have about $7k charged on them. I have $8,000 to use towards paying these down. I'm trying to get my scores up. Currently Eq691 Tu705 Ex695.

Which would have the better impact to credit scores?  

Paying 1 balance in full or paying $4k on each?

Thanks in advance for your help!

---

@MrsBigBucks   Not knowing your exact details, below are benchmarks for FICO 8.

Remember these aggregate utilization thresholds: 9%, 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%
Remember these individual utilization thresholds: 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%

If you're not crossing a threshold, you won't be getting points.

Ideally, you want your highest individual utilization to be under the threshold.

I would recommend reading the below from ABCD2199
The Truth about Credit Card Utilization
My 11 Rules to Credit Rebuilding
FICO Score: What to pay down first?

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Thanks also. I've been reading up on this in the forums, but this snapshot is great for quick reference. 

[AllZero]

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@SPChaser wrote:

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@AllZero wrote:

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@MrsBigBucks wrote:

Hi! Looking for advice... I have 2 Navy Federal NavChek accounts both have about $7k charged on them. I have $8,000 to use towards paying these down. I'm trying to get my scores up. Currently Eq691 Tu705 Ex695.

Which would have the better impact to credit scores?  

Paying 1 balance in full or paying $4k on each?

Thanks in advance for your help!

---

@MrsBigBucks   Not knowing your exact details, below are benchmarks for FICO 8.

Remember these aggregate utilization thresholds: 9%, 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%
Remember these individual utilization thresholds: 29%, 49%, 69%, 89%

If you're not crossing a threshold, you won't be getting points.

Ideally, you want your highest individual utilization to be under the threshold.

I would recommend reading the below from ABCD2199
The Truth about Credit Card Utilization
My 11 Rules to Credit Rebuilding
FICO Score: What to pay down first?

---

Thanks also. I've been reading up on this in the forums, but this snapshot is great for quick reference. 

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@SPChaser. You are welcome. Here's another great read:

From Birdman7
General Scoring Primer and Version 8 Master Thread, pub.5.17.20