Raising Credit Limits

[Anonymous]

I currently have a credit card with a zero balance.  If I credit limit is raised, will it reflect positively on my FICO score?

[Anonymous]

It should reflect positively on your credit score, all things being equal.  It also depends on the amount of the increase and how much time passes by with your credit use ratio remaining less than about 30%, from what I've been told.

[Anonymous]

You should be trying to use it a little. Keep it below 10% util so it doesn't swipe any of your fico points. You don't want the card to not end up as a inactive card due to you letting it sit. If you get a credit line increase depending on your  entire profile you could see a boost. But, why try to get more credit if your not using what you have already been granted? Are you trying to improve your scores in general or do you have an upcoming major purchase ?

[Anonymous]

Larger credit limits do help FICO, up to a point. It's like most other factors that influence a FICO score: there is an asymptote. In other words, up to $2000 CLI really help FICO. $2000 to $5000 helps FICO. $5000 to $10000 nudges it a bit. Beyond that, the effect flattens out--you've gotten all the props for higher credit limits you're ever going to get.

[fused]

Actually, I recently noticed a sizeable increase on all three of my scores (about 11 points) with one card reporting a 15K cl and a total utilization for all my cards at 3%.

[Anonymous]

Remember that 35% of your score looks at payment history.  Put 5-10% of your limit on your card each month and pay it off in full each month.  You have to show that you can make payments on time.  I had the same problem a few months ago.  I had a zero balance on all of my credit cards and my TU did not move.  After putting a balance on it and paying it off each month it started to go up.