Testing Credit Card Utilization Thresholds

[mowglidude]

I have recently been reading @Anonymous The Truth about Credit Card Utilization link and wanted to test it myself, to help the community a little bit. I posted there back on August 1, 2020. We decided to start my own thread on the subject and see what happens, as I pay down cards. Ok, so I will keep you posted of my progress.

I posted on August 1st, that I was currently at 68% aggregate UT on 13 CC accts. I have about $78K in credit used and can I pay it all off this month. I just recently last month started making $2-3K payments on several cards. I was at a 705 FICO 8 score a few weeks ago, then my Sams card didn't report my $10,000 limit for whatever reason, so my UT% went up, which pushed me over 69% and I lost 20 points, down to 685 on July 17th. Since then I have paid down several cards to be back at 68% currently. If Sams was reporting correctly, I would be at 62% today. Since I have paid several cards to the next individual UT level, my score is back at 698 with just paying down 3 cards. I just paid down two more cards today (Aug 1) from 88% to 67% individually, to see what happens next. These two report the first week of August. And as the month moves forward, I will pay down most to zero, or below 8%. I should have a good indication by the end of September.

[mowglidude]

Update: The two cards I recently paid down from 88% UT to 67% UT, reported today on EX. I gained 2 points from 698 to 700, on EX FICO 8.  

[Anonymous]

Excellent, I look forward all your data points but also, to clarify, The Truth about Credit Card Utilization thread is actually by ABCD2199.

[mowglidude]

Since my last post on 8/3,  Citicard posted that I paid down to zero, but showed a $22 balance. CL was also decreased from $3500 to $880. I also paid down a Chase card from 69% UT to 0%, which posted today. No change in score, still at 700 EX FICO 8. Current aggregate utilization is now 60%. I have already made several large payments this month. We will see what happens when they post. Stay tuned. FYI, nothing below changed to my other EX credit report details before or after:

• 100% ontime payments for revolving and installments, not lates, no derogs
• No collections, settlements, negatives, baddies
• 5 hard inquiries (1 less than 1 year)
• $31,556 in installments (1 pers loan, 1 Auto)
• AoOA: 8 years
• AoORA: 8 years
• AAoA: 4.1 years
• AoYRA: 1.5 years

[mowglidude]

One of my Chase cards posted on 8/7 from 77% UT to 1% UT. Also, my aggregate UT went down to 49.47, even with Sams Club not reporting a $10K credit limit. That being said, my EX FICO 8 went up 13 points, to 713. I don’t know if it is because of the aggregate UT, or both.

[Anonymous]

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@mowglidude wrote:

Update: The two cards I recently paid down from 88% UT to 67% UT, reported today on EX. I gained 2 points from 698 to 700, on EX FICO 8.  

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@mowglidudeSorry I've been gone. Was this individual or aggregate percentages?

[Anonymous]

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@mowglidude wrote:

Since my last post on 8/3,  Citicard posted that I paid downto zero, but showed a $22 balance. CL was also decreased from $3500 to $880. I also paid down a Chase card from 69% UT to $O, which posted today. No change in score, still at 700 EX FICO 8. Current aggregate utilization is now 60%. I have already made several large payments this month. We will see what happens when they post. Stay tuned. FYI, nothing below changed to my other EX credit report details before or after:

• 100% ontime payments for revolving and installments, not lates, no derogs
• No collections, settlements, negatives, baddies
• 5 hard inquiries (1 less than 1 year)
• $31,556 in installments (1 pers loan, 1 Auto)
• AoOA: 8 years
• AoORA: 8 years
• AAoA: 4.1 years
• AoYRA: 1.5 years

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@mowglidudeCiti CLD'ed you? Did you call and attempt to get it restored? What effect did the Chase card payoff have on aggregate util? ok you are clean/thick/aged/no new account scorecard, it appears, top card.

Can you check and see if you received points on the first of the month when your AoORA turned 8 years old?

And what's your aggregate installment utilization?

[Anonymous]

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@mowglidude wrote:

One of my Chase cards posted on 8/7 from 77% UT to 1% UT. Also, my aggregate UT went down to 49.47, even with Sams Club not reporting a $10K credit limit. That being said, my EX FICO 8 went up 13 points, to 713. I don’t know if it is because of the aggregate UT, or both.

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@mowglidude77% to 1% crosses 3 individual thresholds. You didn't state before AG util, so it's hard to speculate. 49.47 will round to 50, so you didn't cross the 49% ag threshold.

[mowglidude]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@mowglidude wrote:

Update: The two cards I recently paid down from 88% UT to 67% UT, reported today on EX. I gained 2 points from 698 to 700, on EX FICO 8.  

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@mowglidudeSorry I've been gone. Was this individual or aggregate percentages?

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This was individual, two cards, the same percentages.

[mowglidude]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@mowglidude wrote:

Since my last post on 8/3,  Citicard posted that I paid downto zero, but showed a $22 balance. CL was also decreased from $3500 to $880. I also paid down a Chase card from 69% UT to $O, which posted today. No change in score, still at 700 EX FICO 8. Current aggregate utilization is now 60%. I have already made several large payments this month. We will see what happens when they post. Stay tuned. FYI, nothing below changed to my other EX credit report details before or after:

• 100% ontime payments for revolving and installments, not lates, no derogs
• No collections, settlements, negatives, baddies
• 5 hard inquiries (1 less than 1 year)
• $31,556 in installments (1 pers loan, 1 Auto)
• AoOA: 8 years
• AoORA: 8 years
• AAoA: 4.1 years
• AoYRA: 1.5 years

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@mowglidudeCiti CLD'ed you? Did you call and attempt to get it restored? What effect did the Chase card payoff have on aggregate util? ok you are clean/thick/aged/no new account scorecard, it appears, top card.

Can you check and see if you received points on the first of the month when your AoORA turned 8 years old?

And what's your aggregate installment utilization?

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Yes Citi CLD'd me last month, before all my high indivudual UT's started to go down. They said to call back when everything posts and they will do a soft pull. We'll see. This Chase card caused my aggregate UT to go from 63 - 60%. My AoORA opened on Aug 17, 2012, so I don't know if that scored yet, but I will check on the 17th. I am at 49.47% aggregate installment utilization today. I have three cards posting in the next week up to the 17th, $16,861 total in payments, so far. I may add more before they post, or save to bring down last two cards below 28.9% individual UT before the end of the month. Also on the 19th, Sams (AU) should post back that $10K limit also. So based on the $16K+ in payments and an additional $10K in CL, my aggregate UT should be 31.7% around the 20th, if all posts the same as last month. Getting close. BTW, those three cards are going from 57% -1%, 56% - 24% and 80% - 25% individual UT's.