MyFico Score Stimulator

[Anonymous]

I'll second (and third) the opinions above that Simulators are garbage.  That is all

[Anonymous]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

What you want to do is pick one card that you like.  Always have that report a small positive balance.  $1 is too small.  $5 is fine.  

---

CGID, have you heard of any examples where $1 isn't too small? 

Did you see my thread in the CC section about my Amex reporting a $1 balance this past cycle?

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-reports-a-1-balance/td-p/4852002

I had a $1.08 balance on the card that got reported as $1.  My question (that I don't know the answer to) is whether a $1 reported balance still counts as 1% utilization or if balances this small don't count.  I'm wondering if FICO scoring needs to see a $5 balance for example or greater to count it as using the credit limit, or if any non-zero reported balance will suffice as 1% utilization.

I was thinking about letting all of my cards report zero balances except for the Amex card with a $1 balance and see if my scores stay the same or if they drop ~20 points.  If they stay the same it would indicate to me that a simple $1 balance would suffice in this common illustration that we present to many on this forum?

[sarge12]

---

@simplegirl wrote:

Are the fico score stimulators accurate on how many points you would get in a certain amount of time? 

---

In my experience simulators on any site are almost as accurate as tarot cards or ouiga boards. Soothe sayers and witch doctors are vastly more reliable in most cases.

[Anonymous]

Hi BBS.  I think it is very possible that:

(A) any time that a credit card issuer reports a positive balance of any size (e.g. 38 cents) AND that amount actually makes its way onto a person's report, then that will cause his utilization to be rounded up to 1%,  Possible.

It's also possible that

(B) when a balance is tiny enough, even if it is actually being rendered on the report, certain FICO models might disregard it.  For example: a balance < 49 cents, a ballance < 99 cents, whatever.

I do not distinguish between those two possibilities, or indeed between them and

(C) a consumer has a very tiny balance (e.g. $2.35) and that particular card issuer has a policy of reporting such balances to the CRA as $0.  Discover I believe is one such CCC that has done that.

In practice (and this is just how I see it) there's no reason to distinguish between them because there's no reason to deliberately lower one's balance to ultra-tiny but still positive levels.  The practical dispensing of advice to needy newcomers who are trying to prepare for a mortgage (etc.) shouldn't place them in any risk of a balance that could be treated as $0.  Thus, my advice is always (as you have seen): make it a small positive amount, but avoid anything incredibly tiny, $5 or higher is fine.

It's possible that with a lot of testing on all FICO models and flavors and CC issuers, we could safely conclude that $5 is unnecessarily high.  That actually $2.51 is completely safe.  But if we did it wouldn't change their practical steps.  Nobody really has even the slightest problem placing $5 on a card rather $1, right?

All that said, I still think it is fun for anybody to test arcane stuff purely for the pleasure of knowing.  So don't misunderstand me, I think that on a purely theoretical level it would be kinda cool to know for sure whether (A) or (B) is the case.  It makes no practical difference, since if you are try to round up to 1% you can always leave $10 on and be done.  But sure, it's still cool to know, as a pure hobbyist.

Let me know what you uncover!

[Anonymous]

Gotcha.  I understand that those that are seeking and receiving the advice regarding this subject for FICO score maximization purposes shouldn't be put at risk of the reported balance being rounded down to zero or ignored, thus defeating the purpose of the given advice.

As an enthusiast on this subject though, like you said, these types of things are fun to know for sure.

My $1 reported was somewhat of a mistake as I thought I used a different card.  Ironically it was one of my $1 CCT trials ($1.08) that ran through my Amex which resulted in $1 being reported this month.