Credit card utilization.

[Anonymous]

I am still learning how to improve my credit. I now have three credit cards and I do know only one card should show a balance. I also know the balance should be under 10 %..  My question is ...Is  the 10%  balance of all three cedit card limits or that particular card (ex Discover showing a balance -other two cards showing zero)

Last month my score went down 36 points for not showing any balance..big mistake, I  hope it goes back up when I show a balance again.

Total credit card limits of all three cards 2,650.00 

Capitol 1750.00

Discover 5oo.oo

US 400.00

Thank you

[SouthJamaica]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am still learning how to improve my credit. I now have three credit cards and I do know only one card should show a balance. I also know the balance should be under 10 %..  My question is ...Is  the 10%  balance of all three cedit card limits or that particular card (ex Discover showing a balance -other two cards showing zero)

Last month my score went down 36 points for not showing any balance..big mistake, I  hope it goes back up when I show a balance again.

Total credit card limits of all three cards 2,650.00 

Capitol 1750.00

Discover 5oo.oo

US 400.00

Thank you

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As long as you have 2 cards report a zero balance, if the 3rd card reports less than 30% of that card's credit limit you should be ok, but I believe you will get a few more points by having it under 10% of that card's limit.

[Thomas_Thumb]

Here is a general guideline on credit card balance reporting strategy (relative to Fico 8 scoring):

1) Maintain aggregate revolving utilization (all cards combined) under 9%

2) Maintain utilization on whatever card (or cards) you allow to report a balance under 29%

3) Maintain the percentage of cards that report a balance under 50% - not possible if you only have 1 card or even 2 cards.

Key point on allowing a sizeable balance to report on ones highst limit card is to keep aggregate utilizationbelow 9%.

Full disclosure: I don't follow my own recommendation on % cards reporting or individual card UT % as it is too restrictive for my style. However, I maintain aggregate UT under 6%.