@Thomas_Thumb wrote:I saw my TU Fico 8 score had dropped 6 points to 832 on my latest Discover card statement summary. So I went online to get some details. Aggregate utilization was 9% with a total balance reporting of $7345. One card reported 35% utilization with 2 total reporting balances. Prior month utilization was 1%. I then checked my EQ credit info on MYFICO. It also showed an aggregate utilization of 9% but, score only dropped from 840 to 837. Prior month utilization also showed 1%.
Looking at historical EQ monthly reports; they show aggregate utilization in the summary. So easy to add this in a comparison summary table. Updated table provided below:
Date
TU Fico 8
Utilization
Date
EQ Fico 8
Utilization
Mar 17 '26
832
9%
Mar 10 '26
837
9%
Feb 17 '26
838
1%
Feb 10 '26
840
1%
Jan 17 '26
838
1%
Jan 10 '26
840
1%
Dec 17 '25
838
2%
Dec 10 '25
840
2%
Nov 17 '25
837
4%
Nov 10 '25
840
4%
Oct 17 '25
831
6%
Oct 10 '25
837
7%
Sep 17 '25
837
4%
Sep 10 '25
838
4%
Aug 17 '25
834
4%
Aug 20 '25
838
3%
Jul 17 '25
838
1%
Jul 05 '25
838
1%
Jun 17 '25
838
2%
Jun 10 '25
840
2%
May 17 '25
837
2%
***
Apr 17 '25
838
2%
Apr 20 '25
837
2%
* I find it interesting that EQ yielded the same 837 score for: a) 9% AG utilization (one card at 35% UT) and 2 of 5 cards with balances and b) 2% AG utilization (highest card UT onder 9%) and 4 of 5 cards with balances. TU F8 appears to be more sensitive to utilization/balances than EQ F8 while EQ F8 is more sensitive to QTY of accounts, % of cards reporting balances.
Agreed. For my personal data points, I also observe that F8 TU is more sensitive to total aggregate balances while F8 EQ reacts more to % of accounts with balances. For TU, aggregate balance thresholds appear at roughly every $2k. F8 EX barely moves for me.
I'm trying an experiment this month which will allow many accounts with balances to report (probably 7 out of 11), but with a low aggregate balance under $1k. With my previous historical data, dollar amounts generally increased in proportion to % of accounts with balances. I want to see what happens when I decouple the two metrics.
@NoHardLimits @Thomas_Thumb This is interesting. I may have been slightly off on some of my data before, but used Thomas' chart as a bas to put my data into from my monthly pulls, and it seems like my experience is a bit different. Maybe the dirty profile is the issue in ways we haven't documented? My TU8 was 700 for 9 straight monthly pulls. During that time I had instances of going from 3/7 to 2/7, aggregate reported balances of $2622- $4119, aggregate utilization from 3.97% to 8.40%, and max individual utilization ranging from 7.0% to 17.4%. Not sure how useful my data is but here it is anways. 3/1 is when the 3yr AAoRA mark hits.
Date | TU Fico 8 | Utilization | Date | EQ Fico 8 | Utilization | EX Fico 8 | Utilization | Date | Highest indivual utliization all 3 CRAs |
Apr 3 '26 | 706 | 3.06% | Apr 3 '26 | 708 | 3.06% | 703 | 3.06% | Apr 3 '26 | 5.0% |
Mar 3 '26 (score change hit 3/1 on multiple sources) | 706 | 4.97% | Mar 3 '26 | 704 | 4.97% | 700 | 4.97% | Mar 3 '26 | 9.5% |
Feb 3 '26 | 700 | 5.1% | Feb 3 '26 | 704 | 5.1% | 700 | 5.1% | Feb 3 '26 | 14.4% |
Jan 3 '26 | 700 | 5.4% | Jan 3 '26 | 704 | 5.4% | 700 | 5.4% | Jan 3 '26 | 10.5% |
Dec 3 '25 | 700 | 3.97% | Dec 3 '25 | 708 | 3.97% | 703 | 3.97% | Dec 3 '25 | 7.0% |
Nov 3 '25 | 700 | 6.2% | Nov 3 '25 | 700 | 6.2% | myFICO failed to pull EX | 6.2% | Nov 3 '25 | 11.0% |
Oct 3 '25 | 700 | 6.2% | Oct 3 '25 | 700 | 6.2% | 700 | 6.2% | Oct 3 '25 | 12.0% |
Sep 3 '25 | 700 | 4.0% | Sep 3 '25 | 704 | 4.0% | 703 | 4.0% | Sep 3 '25 | 7.0% |
Aug 3 '25 | 700 | 8.40% | Aug 3 '25 | 700 | 8.40% | 696 | 7.1% (C1 didn't report in time) | Aug 3 '25 | 17.4% / (14.0% EX) |
Jul 3 '25 2/7 reporting, all other months 3/7 | 700 | 5.8% | Jul 3 25 2/7 reporting, all other months 3/7 | 700 | 5.8% | 696 | 5.8% | Jul 3 '25 2/7 reporting, all other months 3/7 | 14.0% |
Jun 3 '25 | 700 | 6.7% | Jun 3 '25 | 697 | 6.7% | 696 | 6.7% | Jun 3'25 | 11.0% |
@NoHardLimits wrote:I'm trying an experiment this month which will allow many accounts with balances to report (probably 7 out of 11), but with a low aggregate balance under $1k. With my previous historical data, dollar amounts generally increased in proportion to % of accounts with balances. I want to see what happens when I decouple the two metrics.
I've completed my experiment of having a low aggregate balance coupled with a high ratio of accounts with balances. I went from 4 of 11 accounts reporting a balance to 7 of 11. The aggregate reported balance remained in the hundreds of dollars the entire time. My FICO8 classic scores showed the following movements:
EX unchanged
EQ down 3 points
TU down 4 points
All lost points were recovered when I reverted back down to 4 accounts reporting a balance with an aggregate balance still in the hundreds of dollars.
I'll try an experiment from the opposite direction later this year when I have a higher spend month. I want to see what happens if I let a significantly higher aggregate dollar balance report while maintaining a lower ratio of accounts with balances.
@Thomas_Thumb wrote:
In your follow up trial keep any card reporting a balance below 9% and aggregate under 4.5% to avoid any potential utilization impact. You and BBS both believe there is an aggregate $ thresholds around $2k. He mentioned another one aroung $5k and a 3rd around $10k
Not sure what your TCL is. Hopefully you can test $5k while keeping AG utilization well under 4.5% - and maintain cards reporting at 4.
Yes, I can follow those parameters. My TCL is over $300k, so I can report over $5k in balances and still keep aggregate utilization under 4.5%. I'll also be sure to keep individual card utilization under 9% while maintaining 4 accounts with balances.
