Utilization <1%

[jbsea]

So quick question.... I my utilization is at this moment about .25%  will it round up to 1%?  if not how big of a hit is it to be showing 0%?  One last question.... does it matter?  like when you have high utilization and you bring it down I know your score will come back up so i'm guessing that it works the same way with low....

[Anonymous]

I read somewhere (cannot remember where) that a balance of >$2 with get your account defined as "not zero" balance. So I think you will be fine. And yes, ultilization ratio works both ways.

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@jbsea wrote:

So quick question.... I my utilization is at this moment about .25%  will it round up to 1%?  if not how big of a hit is it to be showing 0%?  One last question.... does it matter?  like when you have high utilization and you bring it down I know your score will come back up so i'm guessing that it works the same way with low....

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[jbsea]

thank you... it is amazing about how much I care about every single part of my credit now  

[MarineVietVet]

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@jbsea wrote:

So quick question.... I my utilization is at this moment about .25%  will it round up to 1%?  if not how big of a hit is it to be showing 0%?  One last question.... does it matter?  like when you have high utilization and you bring it down I know your score will come back up so i'm guessing that it works the same way with low....

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For scoring utilization is always rounded up.

It's built into the system that your utilization will never be lower than 1% as long as any balance is reported.

[EW800]

I am pleased to see that nothing is reported as less than 1% when there is a balance, as I only report about $10 out of about $77K in revolving CL's. I've always wondered if my Util of something like .01% might be too low.

[Anonymous]

I've heard from some that it is better if you have a zero balance and others say you should leave a balance of under $25 on your card so they "think" you are using it.  Hard to find out the real truth of this matter.

[gdale6]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've heard from some that it is better if you have a zero balance and others say you should leave a balance of under $25 on your card so they "think" you are using it.  Hard to find out the real truth of this matter.

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Its a hard fact thats been proven time and time again, all revolvers at 0 causes a Fico score drop.

[jbsea]

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@gdale6 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've heard from some that it is better if you have a zero balance and others say you should leave a balance of under $25 on your card so they "think" you are using it.  Hard to find out the real truth of this matter.

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Its a hard fact thats been proven time and time again, all revolvers at 0 causes a Fico score drop.

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I thought that we were suppose to keep two cc at 0 and 1 showing a balance between 1% - 9%

[gdale6]

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@jbsea wrote:

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@gdale6 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've heard from some that it is better if you have a zero balance and others say you should leave a balance of under $25 on your card so they "think" you are using it.  Hard to find out the real truth of this matter.

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Its a hard fact thats been proven time and time again, all revolvers at 0 causes a Fico score drop.

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I thought that we were suppose to keep two cc at 0 and 1 showing a balance between 1% - 9%

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Yes you want 1 card reporting a balance of no more than 9% if its individual CL, the rest of your revolvers at 0.

[takeshi74]

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@jbsea wrote:

One last question.... does it matter?  like when you have high utilization and you bring it down I know your score will come back up so i'm guessing that it works the same way with low....

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You'd have to test and see how your scores are affected.  There isn't a fixed X points per % utilization chart.  Lower utilization is generally better as long as it is above 0 but how much better can vary and you'd just have to see how much of a difference you'd stand to see.

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@Anonymous wrote:

I've heard from some that it is better if you have a zero balance and others say you should leave a balance of under $25 on your card so they "think" you are using it.  Hard to find out the real truth of this matter.

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Not hard at all.  Read up and you'll see that there is a hit for having all zeroes report.  That's precisely why the advice "to optimize and eke out every possible point only allow one balance to report at 10% or less".  You always have to consider your sources, validate and corroborate.  If you take every source at face value then you'll always find conflicting information on any topic.

You can also always test with your own data and scores.  Just be careful assuming causality.  Make sure you carefully review reports before and after to ensure that you're accounting for all changes.

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@jbsea wrote:

I thought that we were suppose to keep two cc at 0 and 1 showing a balance between 1% - 9%

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Only applies if one has 3 cards.  Everyone does not have 3 cards.  Hence the "all but one".