@Anonymous wrote:
@Scupra wrote:
You are correct in saying that the reported on time payment is what we want to show on our reports. Unfortunately FICO prefers that you carry a balance less than 9% one ONE card while ALL others report 0% util. This is to optimize your FICO score.
This link has a good explanation:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/tiny-card-balance-helps-credit-score.aspx
The other credible resource I would lead you to is the one you're onTake a look around and you will see plenty advice to report a small balance. I'm not saying you need to pay interest, just have to play the reporting game! I have also let a small balance report one month and not the next month and can confirm it makes a score impact. No offense taken, we all learn new things every day!
Im confused as to how you can be at 1-9% AND avoid interest. MY due dates are all a few days before the statement closes. In order to avoid interest I would need to PIF before the due date. So that would mean i would need to used the card sometime between the due date and when the statement cuts to show a balance to the CRA. That seems like a very tight window to hit unless i am misunderstanding something in the process.
Use the grace period to your advantage 
@Scupra wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Scupra wrote:
You are correct in saying that the reported on time payment is what we want to show on our reports. Unfortunately FICO prefers that you carry a balance less than 9% one ONE card while ALL others report 0% util. This is to optimize your FICO score.
This link has a good explanation:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-cards/tiny-card-balance-helps-credit-score.aspx
The other credible resource I would lead you to is the one you're onIm confused as to how you can be at 1-9% AND avoid interest. MY due dates are all a few days before the statement closes. In order to avoid interest I would need to PIF before the due date. So that would mean i would need to used the card sometime between the due date and when the statement cuts to show a balance to the CRA. That seems like a very tight window to hit unless i am misunderstanding something in the process.
Use the grace period to your advantage
If i have a $1000 limit and want to have 9% report I would have to pay down all but $90 prior to the due date. Wouldn't that mean that $90 will be susceptible to interest?
@lg8302ch wrote:...and OP if all this does not convince you....do the test yourself.
There is a very interesting test you can do which will give you a nice idea what the article describes. If you have 5 accounts for example report all with 0 balance, next month report all with 1$ balance on each and then report 4 with 0 balance and 1 with 5$
I can guarantee you the result will be a nice surprise
Well I guess I'll have to try your little test. I got a Barclays NFL card in late March primarily to take advantage of the 15 month 0% BT. I did a $3780 BT to payoff a Prosper 10.89% APR loan, figuring with 0% interest I can pay it off in 15 month rather than the 27 months of remaining payments. The NFL card statement hit in late April with a 64% util, and my scores took an 18 pt hit. To compensate I PIF'd 5 other accounts before statement so they'd report a $0 balance, the only accounts out of 7 reporting a balance are NFL & Lowes with a $424 balance w/0% deferred interestuntil Sept. The last of the 0% bal will report 5/13, so I'll see what the score looks like then.The other part of the equation is I'm pre-qualifying for a USDA Direct mortgage and any account reporting a balance will result in the min payment being counted in my DTI ratio. But next month I'll let a couple accounts report a small balance, a $10-15 min payment isn't going to affect my DTI that much.
My overall util is 15% and I thought it was the overall util rate that was most important in the scoring models, now I know if you let any single account go over 30% util it makes the FICO computer angry with you. 
That doesn't seem right, in this era of competitiveness among CCCs with 0% intro APR and 0% BT offers very common it's not unreasonable for folks to take advantage of them to pay down debt more quickly. 5 accounts reporting 0 bal and 15% overall util should show that I'm not on a spending spree and piling on new debt.
@DaveInAZ wrote:
@lg8302ch wrote:...and OP if all this does not convince you....do the test yourself.
I can guarantee you the result will be a nice surprise
Well I guess I'll have to try your little test. I got a Barclays NFL card in late March primarily to take advantage of the 15 month 0% BT. I did a $3780 BT to payoff a Prosper 10.89% APR loan, figuring with 0% interest I can pay it off in 15 month rather than the 27 months of remaining payments. The NFL card statement hit in late April with a 64% util, and my scores took an 18 pt hit. To compensate I PIF'd 5 other accounts before statement so they'd report a $0 balance, the only accounts out of 7 reporting a balance are NFL & Lowes with a $424 balance w/0% deferred interestuntil Sept. The last of the 0% bal will report 5/13, so I'll see what the score looks like then.The other part of the equation is I'm pre-qualifying for a USDA Direct mortgage and any account reporting a balance will result in the min payment being counted in my DTI ratio. But next month I'll let a couple accounts report a small balance, a $10-15 min payment isn't going to affect my DTI that much.
My overall util is 15% and I thought it was the overall util rate that was most important in the scoring models, now I know if you let any single account go over 30% util it makes the FICO computer angry with you.
While it's true that overall utilization carries more weight individual account utilization is also scored along with how many accounts are reporting a balance at the same time.