Installment loan payoff or reduce cc utilization

[penelopeliam]

I have received $3000, for best FICO improvement should I;

A: payoff remaing $3000 on an installment loan that is current on payments and has 36 out of 48 months still remaining,

or

B: payoff my 3 highest credit card balances?

My current score is 675 with credit karma FAKO, utilization 62%

Thanks!

[apandabear]

Pay down your credit card debt. That will have a positive effect on your FICO. Paying off an installment loan will either give you no change in FICO, or a very small change. Some people pay off an installment loan and actually see a score drop. 

To save money and gain FICO points, pay down that high util!!

[jamie123]

How many cards do you have?

What are the balances and credit lines like?

For sure pay down the credit card debt but if we knew the answers to the 2 questions I asked we could give you better and more accurate advice.

[pizzadude]

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@apandabear wrote:

Pay down your credit card debt. That will have a positive effect on your FICO. Paying off an installment loan will either give you no change in FICO, or a very small change. Some people pay off an installment loan and actually see a score drop. 

To save money and gain FICO points, pay down that high util!!

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+1.   You might also want to pull a FICO score to know where you stand ~ you should get a nice FICO score bump if you can significantly reduce your revolving utilization.

[Anonymous]

CC utilization! (see my sig)

I paid off a car (reporting as installment loan) with no score change at all. Everytime I have a new lower balance report on my CCs however, my score goes up. 

[penelopeliam]

Is there any advantage to paying down bank cards first versus store cc or vice versa?

Thanks again!

[Repo-ed]

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@penelopeliam wrote:

Is there any advantage to paying down bank cards first versus store cc or vice versa?

Thanks again!

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None.

What matters is paying down balances with highest Bal or Highest APR.  Most would tell you to pay down cards from highest balances to smallest (Snowball)

[CasperJack14]

Pay off your credit card balances. Having that installment loan in good standing actually helps you in the long run showing good payment history, whereas high CC utilization will hurt your score.

Good Luck!