Depends on how many cards you have. Use you cards all you want to get the perks. Then pay it down below 8% before the statement cuts. From your pic it appears the 17th is your statement date. Once it post the balance. Then pay before the due date. Never have all cards report a $0 balance. Best case is 3 cards and 1 reports.
@Wooohah wrote:Apologies in advance if this is a rather basic question.
When/ how is total credit utilization reported to FICO? Is my credit utilization simply whatever shows as "last statement balance"?
If I want to lower my utilization, should my goal be to pay off my balance in full before the "statement closing date" and keep it at 0 or as low as possible until the business day after the statement closing date?
Attached is a picture:
Would I just pay it off before the 17th, and make sure the balance shows as $0 through the end of the 17th?Thank you so much!
1. The date of the reported balance is usually -- but not always -- the statement balance. You need to monitor your reports to know for sure; CSR's don't know the answer to that question. The majority of my accounts report the statement date, but there are exceptions. (Some report the balance from the last day of the month or the first day of the next month; I have one that reports on the 5th of the month, and another that reports irregularly during the week after the statement closes. Also Chase reports a zero balance any time of the month when an account is paid down to zero).
2. Your safest bet for across-the-board score optimization, especially with your mortgage scores, is to have one bank card (not a Chase card) report a small balance, while the other revolving accounts report zero balances.
3. If all of your revolving accounts report zero balances, your scores will get hit with an "All Zero" penalty.
