My Profile - Fico 8 - High Utilization

[cj1132]

I have decided to post my profile and will update as changes are made.

I have what I would call a very stable profile.  My oldest card, depending on which bureau, ranges from 28.8 to 35.2 years.  My average age ranges from 15.8 to 17.9 years.  

My two newest cards just turned 8 years on July 1st.  The only inquiry I have will be 2 years old on July 26th for a phone service.

On 2/25/15, I started to be more aware of account balances and did not let a single one increase since then.  In the past, I have had balances go up or down but never increased my total utilization.    I have one $30 paid medical collection from Oct 2012 and one 30 day late payment  which will be 5 yrs on Aug 1st.  EX and EQ have both of these shown and TU has neither.  My accounts are as follows:

2/25/15                       6/9 cards w/balances             44% utilization

BoA                              95% util

Chase Freedom        62%

Chase Slate               37%

USAA                          93%

Universal                    24%

Kohls                           $50.00

Scores:  EQ 724       TU 734        EX  728

2/26/15

Paid USAA down to 93% 

Scores:  EQ  731       TU  734      EX   731  

From 2/26/15 to 5/26/15 there were no score changes.  During that time I paid the $50 balance on Kohls so had 5/9 cards reporting and brought USAA down to 89%. The Chase Freedom also went below 60%

5/26/15                   5/9 cards reporting                  41% utilization

Brought BoA down to 89% utilization.

Scores:    EQ  735    TU  744       EX 734

Sometime between 5/26/15 and 6/14/15, my EX went up to 738 with no alert triggered.

From 6/23/15 to 6/26/15, my EX score went up and down each down from 738 to 742 then back down and back up.  It finally settled at 742 on 6/28.

I pulled the 3B on CCT on 7/3/15 and scores were as follows:

Scores:    EQ  735    TU 744     EX 745

My EX increased 3 points on 7/1/15 which is when my average age went to 18 yrs.

EX increased 1 point on 7/12/15 which is when my two newest cards turned 8 yrs.

Current Scores:  EQ 735   TU 744   EX  746

Of interest is the fact that EX is 2 points higher than TU and TU doesn't have the late payment or collection.  To me, this shows that the high utilization is a bigger factor than the late payment and collection.

I have paid USAA down to 78% and will be running a 3B on CCT as soon as it reports, which should be in the next few days.

I have also paid BoA down to 79% and will run a 3B when that reports, which should be around the 26th.

I also have a heloc at 32% and a mortage at 78%.  No installment loans.

I will have to check my total and individual utilization to see where it's at on all of the cards.

Hope this all makes sense.  Will update as changes occur.  I am not looking for any advice as I have a solid plan on paying off my cards and many of these are at  0%

or low rates.  Only one is a higher rate and I will get back to paying that at an accelerated rate now that the two high utilization cards are below 80%.

[Revelate]

Welcome to the forums! (or at least posting heh)

I always appreciate data so thank you!

FICO 8: Collections <$100 are ignored so your medical collection isn't impacting you on this.

Also a 5 year old 30 day late; I never got the chance to really test this but there were a number of people that reported in years past that a 30 day late after 2 years basically doesn't hurt.  If it was an isolated incident under FICO 8, might be ignored period actually from some of the marketing disclaimers, but I don't know anyone that's been able to really test that.

It doesn't surprise me your TU/EX scores are awfully similar since your negatives aren't hurting you much if at all.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for sharing your story. I'm hoping to get to this point very soon. I noticed that utilization and inquiries do the most damage to my scores. Right now I'm focused on increasing my CLs, so the inquiries are killing me. I did notice that my last app only decreased my EXP score 3 points. I can live with it. Keep up the good work!!!

[NRB525]

Thanks for posting the details. You scores are surprisingly high for that high of utilization and having baddies, even factoring in Revelates' clarification of minimization.

Edit: Newest cards at 8 years implies no recent INQ. Have all your cards been reporting balances most or all months since each card was opened? Not necessarily carrying balances, just reporting something on the statement even if PIF by the payment due date.

Some things missing: What are your $ balances on those cards and CL, to get to the high percentage utilization? What is the age of each account?

[cj1132]

Just a quick update on my scores.

I received a Myfico update dated the 15th as follows:

TU   746  (up 2)

EQ   738  (up 3)

EX   746  (up 4)

Experian had been up 3 since July 1st and up 1 since July 13th so I'm assuming dropping my Chase Freedom from 59% to 55% was what finally caused a trigger on Myfico.  

Only two more points on EQ and all three will be green again!  EX has always been my lowest score.

My USAA statement cut yesterday and I'm waiting for that to update.  I've gone from 89% to 78%.  I will be slightly above 39% total utilization at that point  so it depends on if Myfico counts it as 39% total or 40% total.

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@cj1132 wrote:

I have decided to post my profile and will update as changes are made.

I have what I would call a very stable profile.  My oldest card, depending on which bureau, ranges from 28.8 to 35.2 years.  My average age ranges from 15.8 to 17.9 years.  

My two newest cards just turned 8 years on July 1st.  The only inquiry I have will be 2 years old on July 26th for a phone service.

On 2/25/15, I started to be more aware of account balances and did not let a single one increase since then.  In the past, I have had balances go up or down but never increased my total utilization.    I have one $30 paid medical collection from Oct 2012 and one 30 day late payment  which will be 5 yrs on Aug 1st.  EX and EQ have both of these shown and TU has neither.  My accounts are as follows:

2/25/15                       6/9 cards w/balances             44% utilization

Scores:  EQ 724       TU 734        EX  728

2/26/15

Paid USAA down to 93% 

Scores:  EQ  731       TU  734      EX   731  

From 2/26/15 to 5/26/15 there were no score changes.  During that time I paid the $50 balance on Kohls so had 5/9 cards reporting and brought USAA down to 89%. The Chase Freedom also went below 60%

5/26/15                   5/9 cards reporting                  41% utilization

Brought BoA down to 89% utilization.

Scores:    EQ  735    TU  744       EX 734

I pulled the 3B on CCT on 7/3/15 and scores were as follows:

Scores:    EQ  735    TU 744     EX 745

Current Scores:  EQ 735   TU 744   EX  746

I have also paid BoA down to 79% and will run a 3B when that reports, which should be around the 26th.

I also have a heloc at 32% and a mortage at 78%.  No installment loans.

I will have to check my total and individual utilization to see where it's at on all of the cards.

Hope this all makes sense.  Will update as changes occur.  I am not looking for any advice as I have a solid plan on paying off my cards and many of these are at  0%

or low rates.  Only one is a higher rate and I will get back to paying that at an accelerated rate now that the two high utilization cards are below 80%.

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Thanks for sharing your data. Your AAoA is impressive.

You may want to pay off low balance cards to get the # of cards reporting a blance down to three from five. The % of cards reporting can be a significant factor on scoring. 

The primary factor keeping your score down appears to be aggregate utilization percentage.  A couple thresholds I have wondered about are 35% and 20%. You are approaching the 35% mark. Utilization on individual cards - at least up to 80% - has not been shown to impact Fico 8 score.

It would be interesting to try and isolate impact on score associated with each of the following if your pay down schedule allows:

1) Any step change in score as aggregate utilization drops

2) Any step change in score associated with reducing % or # of cards reporting a balance 

[cj1132]

Another update on my scores.

I ran the3B report on CCT today and the results are:

EX - 746 (no change)

 Both my USAA and BOA accounts have updated and both are at 79% utilization.  Total utilization for  5/9 cards is at 38%.

EQ - 741 (+3)  

Only my USAA card has updated to 79%.  Total utilization is at 39%.

TU - 746 (no change)

Neither of the two cards has updated.

[Anonymous]

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@cj1132 wrote:

Another update on my scores.

I ran the3B report on CCT today and the results are:

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I've been following closely, good data presented here in this thread

If you are trying to time your CCT 3B pulls, my experience on CCT has been

EX 1-2 day after the USAA statement has cut

EQ 3-5 days after USAA statement has cut

TU 10-12 days after USAA statement has cut or last day of the month whichever comes first

[jamie123]

You have really great and well aged credit!

The only thing that is hurting your scores is the high UTI. Inquiries stay on your report for 2 years but stop affecting your score after 1 year. The medical collection is small enough and old enough to not be affecting your scores now.

You will see a bump in your scores when less than 50% of your total card count reports a balance. Your scores will keep increasing as you pay your balances down to below 10%. You will see your highest scores when you have only 1 or 2 cards reporting balances and you are below 10% UTI.

With your credit profile I think you should end up with scores in the 800s.