How to increase FICO score by 5 points

Anonymous · ‎03-21-2018

Hello, I’m 5 points away from a score I need to achieve. My credit utilization rate is 88% due to $441/$500. If I pay the minimum balance $25, would my score increase by 5 points. Or if I make a payment off $100? Thank you

thornback · ‎03-21-2018

You're currently at 88% util. To have any impact on your FICO, you need to pass the next utilization threshold which is 68.9% (pay balance down to below $344.50). That might get you 4-6 points.

The next thresholds are 48.9%, 28.9%, and 8.9%. You should see score increases as you pay your balance down to below each of those percentages.

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ChessChik47 · ‎03-22-2018

@thornbackwrote:
You're currently at 88% util. To have any impact on your FICO, you need to pass the next utilization threshold which is 68.9% (pay balance down to below $344.50). That might get you 4-6 points.

The next thresholds are 48.9%, 28.9%, and 8.9%. You should see score increases as you pay your balance down to below each of those percentages.

+1....OP the faster you pay that balance down, the faster your score will increase. Another option is to get a credit limit increase, which will decrease your utilization percentage.

Good luck!

Anonymous · ‎03-22-2018

OP, is that $500 credit line your only revolving account? If so, paying it down from maxed out (nearly) to ideal ($44 or less) would result in a score increase of somewhere in the 60-100 point range. Naturally, paydowns in between depending on where they land you relative to the thresholds listed above will result in score gains that are a portion of those total points, but that's very profile-specific and difficult to predict. Do you have the ability to pay it down to $44 or less? Doing so would be fantastic for your scores and overall credit profile.

nosup4u · ‎03-22-2018

This is spot on as I just had a card update to almost full balance and took my overall balance to 68 or 69% utilization and my score only dropped 6 points. I though it was going to be like 20 points or something I was shocked actually

Anonymous · ‎03-25-2018

@nosup4uThis is spot on as I just had a card update to almost full balance and took my overall balance to 68 or 69% utilization and my score only dropped 6 points. I though it was going to be like 20 points or something I was shocked actually

Aggregate utilization is King to individual card utilization. You said that you took your overall utilization to 68% or 69%. Assuming it's somewhere between those two points, if you were at 48.9% aggregate utilization prior to the balance going up on 1 card that brought your overall utilization up to that point, you didn't cross an aggregate threshold. That being the case, the only penalty you took on was for the individial card possibly crossing a threhold, which is much less impactful than an aggregate utilization threshold-crossing. 6 points sounds about right.

NRB525 · ‎03-25-2018

@Anonymouswrote:
Hello, I’m 5 points away from a score I need to achieve. My credit utilization rate is 88% due to $441/$500. If I pay the minimum balance $25, would my score increase by 5 points. Or if I make a payment off $100? Thank you

Which FICO score are you trying to improve? FICO 8 for cards, or a score for an auto loan or mortgage?

What score in that score type do you have right now?

It is doubtful paying only $25 would move the needle on the score at all. If that is only the minimum payment on the statement, and the $400 remaining balance is not paid by the payment due date, that would trigger interest cost, so you would start paying a fee for the balance. You also would only have $100 of remaining credit on the card.

High Bal Jan 2009 $116k on $146k limits 80% Util.
Oct 2014 $46k on $127k 36% util EQ 722 TU 727 EX 727
April 2018 $18k on $344k 5% util EQ 806 TU 810 EX 812
Jan 2019 $7.6k on $360k EQ 832 TU 839 EX 831
March 2021 $33k on $312k EQ 796 TU 798 EX 801
May 2021 Paid all Installments and Mortgages, one new Mortgage EQ 761 TY 774 EX 777
April 2022 EQ=811 TU=807 EX=805 - TU VS 3.0 765

Anonymous · ‎03-26-2018

Minimum payments won't help as pointed out by everyone. I won't repeat what others have already said. They are correct. You can get another credit card to increase your available credit. This may help. Also, check your credit report and see if there are any inaccurate negative listing on it. If there is a negative listing, get it removed asap. It may help to increase your credit score.

Anonymous · ‎03-26-2018

Getting another credit card is not the answer. The answer is paying off the current balance on a $500 card. Paying off that balance will increase the OPs scores dramatically. If the OP is unable to pay off a $400+ balance, the last thing he should be thinking about is applying for more credit.

Anonymous · ‎03-27-2018

For what purpose are you looking to increase your credit score? New card? Credit limit increase?