Credit Utilization reporting

[failur3byh3art]

So I have a question in regards to credit utilization and reporting. I currently have 3 secured cards and 3 non secured cards and am building credit. My scores are all in the mid 600s. I use my cards accordingly and have the heaviest usage on my cash back cards aka Cap1 QS1 and Discover IT secured. I've never missed a payment and trying to be as responsible as possible by paying in full each month and then making a small charge to carry a balance over. My question is, does maxing out the card completely factor in with % usage or does what ever balance you have on the reporting date factor in instead? Example, Due date on Cap1 is the 4th of each month and the closing is on the 7th (so the 8th is day 1) CL is 500 but I have a balance of 10$. Do they only count the balance that gets reported or the fact you max out the card constantly but pay it off? Among my 6 cards I have a combined CL of 3000$ but each card I leave a balance of 10-25$ before the reporting (Depending on the card). I apologize if this is an outright stupid question, but I'm trying to educate myself and build my credit up the best way I can. I've heard 0$ balance reporting doesn't matter anymore but I also don't want it to seem like I'm not using the card. I've often thought if 0$ gets reported to the 3 credit agencies that my scores wouldn't increase

[FlaDude]

As far as credit score is concerned, it is purely based on the reported balance when the statement cuts. Below 8.9% is best, and there are several other thresholds, each of which can cost you points if you go over. That true for both individual and in total. There is a hit for all cards reporting zero, so if you need to optimize let a small balance report on one card (known as All Zero Except One - AZEO).

Scores are designed to gauge your ability to pay, not how profitable you are to the credit issuers, so lower balances are better, letting higher balances report will hurt your score, not help it.

Obviously, lenders can consider other factors than just score in deciding to grant credit, but I don't think allowing balances to report just to show you use your cards will improve your changes of getting approved for anything.

There are many posters here who serially request CLIs and end up with limits far out of proportion to their income and usage, and for the most part the credit card companies don't seem to mind.

[failur3byh3art]

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@FlaDude wrote:

As far as credit score is concerned, it is purely based on the reported balance when the statement cuts. Below 8.9% is best, and there are several other thresholds, each of which can cost you points if you go over. That true for both individual and in total. There is a hit for all cards reporting zero, so if you need to optimize let a small balance report on one card (known as All Zero Except One - AZEO).

Scores are designed to gauge your ability to pay, not how profitable you are to the credit issuers, so lower balances are better, letting higher balances report will hurt your score, not help it.

Obviously, lenders can consider other factors than just score in deciding to grant credit, but I don't think allowing balances to report just to show you use your cards will improve your changes of getting approved for anything.

There are many posters here who serially request CLIs and end up with limits far out of proportion to their income and usage, and for the most part the credit card companies don't seem to mind.

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Thank you for your response! As of now I don't intend on applying for additional cards as I may become overwhelmed. I do want a Chase card above all else in the future but cannot app for it now. I've been approved for 6 cards in total and most would consider that too much of a spree even with secured cards. I'm also trying to practice self control (When I get approved I tend to go on a spree lol). From other threads the AZEO method is most common when applying for higher and better chances correct? Would it really benefit me now if im just simply credit building? So far I've been paying completely in full and 3 days before the statement cut off I make small charges to create a balance smaller than the previous month. Should I AZEO every once in awhile? Is it worth doing now? My statements for my cards start soon and I can completely pay them off to 0

[FlaDude]

Balances have no "memory" so unless you need your best score for something, or just want to see how high you can get, there is no need to AZEO until you are ready to apply.

[failur3byh3art]

Thanks for the advice! Looks like I've got a year of gardening ahead of me. Hopefully I can reach my goals of 720+ scores but we'll see!