Question on "Highest Balance" vs. Limit

[dtbecker]

Hello,

On my FreeAnnual Credit report for Experian, it shows for one of my credit cards the highest balance reported (which is $434 on a $500 limit card). It shows my credit limit at $500. Will this ever be removed? I thought utlization doesn't stay on your credit report forever?

I now have a 1% utilization across all cards.

The only way I could see to fix this is get a higher limit on the credit card. 

[M_Smart007]

Hi @dtbecker and welcome to the forums!

You do not have to worry about your previous highest reported balance.

It is not factored into your current Utilization.

It does have somewhat a positive factor IMHO,

That you have used the card to almost the limit and paid it off.

Here is some good reading on scoring, I hope that it is not confusing for you!

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Understanding-FICO-Scoring/General-Scoring-Primer-and-Version-8-Mas...

[Shooting-For-800]

I agree with above.

No worries.

[Anonymous]

Agreed.  I'm of the opinion that the higher the "high balance" on a card, the better it looks so long as the card has been paid off.  This is also assuming that the account is clean, that is, no payments were missed along the way to paying off that high balance.

As an aside, a high balance anywhere near the credit limit that has been paid off is probably one of the best reasons for a creditor to hand you a CLI.  If you haven't asked for one, depending on the creditor it could be worth it.

[dtbecker]

Thank you to everyone who responded. I haven't used this forum much but its helped alot! 

That credit card was paid off completely with minimal interest. If I remember correctly it was paid off two days after interest accrued (so at the time it showed a 90%+ utilization). That $500 limit card (unsecured credit) was my first credit card with my local credit union. I need to sometime ask for a credit limit increase since I've had the card 2 years. 

On a completely unrelated note, I just got approved for the Apple Card with a $2,500 limit. Haven't checked my FICO score yet, but Equifax showed all credit scores from all CRA's above 700 (highest is EQ 755). Not bad considering I have $90K+ in installment loans reporting (student loans). I'm really happy about this limit even though some people who also got this limit thought it was low. I've read every thread on CLI's here for the AppleCard, and once I start using 30% per month on it after 6 months, I will ask for the CLI. Then I can give data points to the community members here. 

[M_Smart007]

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@dtbecker wrote:

Thank you to everyone who responded. I haven't used this forum much but its helped alot! 

That credit card was paid off completely with minimal interest. If I remember correctly it was paid off two days after interest accrued (so at the time it showed a 90%+ utilization). That $500 limit card (unsecured credit) was my first credit card with my local credit union. I need to sometime ask for a credit limit increase since I've had the card 2 years. 

On a completely unrelated note, I just got approved for the Apple Card with a $2,500 limit. Haven't checked my FICO score yet, but Equifax showed all credit scores from all CRA's above 700 (highest is EQ 755). Not bad considering I have $90K+ in installment loans reporting (student loans). I'm really happy about this limit even though some people who also got this limit thought it was low. I've read every thread on CLI's here for the AppleCard, and once I start using 30% per month on it after 6 months, I will ask for the CLI. Then I can give data points to the community members here. 

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Congratulations on your Approval..