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I'm at 14%, but I always see this "tip" from EX. I'm supposed to look more creditworthy if I'm under 6%. Do you guys ignore it? Have you noticed any increase in your score at under 6% util? Do creditors see this as a magic number?
"Consider reducing credit usage
Experts recommend an ideal credit usage of below 6%. Yours is on the right track, but the lower your usage, the more creditworthy you appear."
If you're at 14%, a definite magic number is getting below 9%. That's a well known/documented threshold that will definitely result in score gains. As for the EX fluff front end also referencing 6%, from what I've read that seems more profile dependent. Some have reported gains in that area, others have not. Those gains though from what I've heard are quite minor relative to those seen at the 9% point.
@Anonymous wrote:If you're at 14%, a definite magic number is getting below 9%. That's a well known/documented threshold that will definitely result in score gains. As for the EX fluff front end also referencing 6%, from what I've read that seems more profile dependent. Some have reported gains in that area, others have not. Those gains though from what I've heard are quite minor relative to those seen at the 9% point.
Great. Thanks. I wanted to see what my score would be at AZEO and the "ideal" util rate over the next few wks and I really didn't want to go below 6%. Will shoot for 8.4% instead.
@cr101 wrote:I'm at 14%, but I always see this "tip" from EX. I'm supposed to look more creditworthy if I'm under 6%. Do you guys ignore it? Have you noticed any increase in your score at under 6% util? Do creditors see this as a magic number?
"Consider reducing credit usage
Experts recommend an ideal credit usage of below 6%. Yours is on the right track, but the lower your usage, the more creditworthy you appear."
My experience was that the ideal aggregate utilization for FICO 8 was at 2-3%.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@cr101 wrote:I'm at 14%, but I always see this "tip" from EX. I'm supposed to look more creditworthy if I'm under 6%. Do you guys ignore it? Have you noticed any increase in your score at under 6% util? Do creditors see this as a magic number?
"Consider reducing credit usage
Experts recommend an ideal credit usage of below 6%. Yours is on the right track, but the lower your usage, the more creditworthy you appear."My experience was that the ideal aggregate utilization for FICO 8 was at 2-3%.
Eh. I give up. LOL. I'm only willing to go to 8.4%....So, if someone has a $1,000 credit limit, they would only want you to use $30?
@cr101 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@cr101 wrote:I'm at 14%, but I always see this "tip" from EX. I'm supposed to look more creditworthy if I'm under 6%. Do you guys ignore it? Have you noticed any increase in your score at under 6% util? Do creditors see this as a magic number?
"Consider reducing credit usage
Experts recommend an ideal credit usage of below 6%. Yours is on the right track, but the lower your usage, the more creditworthy you appear."My experience was that the ideal aggregate utilization for FICO 8 was at 2-3%.
Eh. I give up. LOL. I'm only willing to go to 8.4%....So, if someone has a $1,000 credit limit, they would only want you to use $30?
No.
1. I thought we were talking about aggregate utilization, not individual account utilization.
2. I thought we were talking about FICO scores, not what "someone would want you to use"
3. How much credit you use, and what your reported balance is, are 2 entirely separate things. FICO scores base utilization on the reported balance, not on usage.
Also I'm not setting a rule, I was talking about my experience. My experience has been that once I went over 3% it seemed that I was losing points for every rounded percentage point over that. I don't think I ever experienced a particular threshold at 6% or 9%, just a general principle that the higher my aggregate utilization went, the lower my score went. But I do think it's safe to say that 9% is very good and 6% is great.
I always see increases in the lower %. 2-4% seems to be the max points for me so far
i am currently at 11% due to some zero percent deals. And my scores show that.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@cr101 wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@cr101 wrote:I'm at 14%, but I always see this "tip" from EX. I'm supposed to look more creditworthy if I'm under 6%. Do you guys ignore it? Have you noticed any increase in your score at under 6% util? Do creditors see this as a magic number?
"Consider reducing credit usage
Experts recommend an ideal credit usage of below 6%. Yours is on the right track, but the lower your usage, the more creditworthy you appear."My experience was that the ideal aggregate utilization for FICO 8 was at 2-3%.
Eh. I give up. LOL. I'm only willing to go to 8.4%....So, if someone has a $1,000 credit limit, they would only want you to use $30?
No.
1. I thought we were talking about aggregate utilization, not individual account utilization.
2. I thought we were talking about FICO scores, not what "someone would want you to use"
3. How much credit you use, and what your reported balance is, are 2 entirely separate things. FICO scores base utilization on the reported balance, not on usage.
So sorry. I'm a bit confused. I used $1,000 as an example of someone who only has 1 card and that card has a limit of $1,000. When you say that usage and balance are not the same thing, are you just referring to the fact that I could hypothetically max out that $1,000 card before the statement cut, but my util wouldn't be 100%; my util would be whatever the balance-to-limit ratio is when the cc company actually reports the balance? I hope that's what you meant. Otherwise, I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did.
Usage refers to how much you spend over a period of time. Your balance is how much you owe at a specific time. By paying frequently, you can have quite a bit of usage and fairly low balances.
I've been testing to find out exactly which dollar amount causes my scores to ding. A balance of $146 gives me my AZEO scores across the board. A balance of $148 causes my Experian 98 scores to drop by two or three points apiece. This month, the goal is to test $147.
To keep things under control, I've been testing on the same 24k card. Total limits are currently 72k and have been at that level since early this year. When I have scores that show apparent aging points, I make a return trip to AZEO (for me, a $7 balance) to ensure that I'm comparing apples to apples. I don't think aging has gotten in the way of these tests, though. The high water mark for these scores hasn't risen in over a year.
$146 on 24k limit & 72k total limits:
$148 on 24k limit & 72k total limits:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
My experience was that the ideal aggregate utilization for FICO 8 was at 2-3%.
2-3% produced better measurable results for you than 1%?