Utilization question, one card or two?

[Yankee2]

Scoring wise, Is it better to have one card with very high utilization or two cards with high utilization?

Example 1, 

$20,000/ $25,000

Example 2

$10,000/$25,000

$10,000/$25,000

I know there are thresholds that hurt scores, but also if muliple lines cross thresholds. Not sure which is worse.

This would be on a thick, mature file

25years oldest account

7.8 years average age of accounts

2 months youngest. 

10 total credit cards. Total CL 144k. currently at 16% aggrigate, single card at 80% (0% card)  with the rest at or below 8% (these I always PIF each month)

Was considering which 0% card to go when my current 0% period ends. Then thought maybe the best approach is get two and spread between both.....

Thanks!

[Yankee2]

Forgot to add,  FICO scores were 820-830s before the high utilization on the 0% started.

Current scores in the 780s..

[SouthJamaica]

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@Yankee2 wrote:

Scoring wise, Is it better to have one card with very high utilization or two cards with high utilization?

Example 1, 

$20,000/ $25,000

Example 2

$10,000/$25,000

$10,000/$25,000

I know there are thresholds that hurt scores, but also if muliple lines cross thresholds. Not sure which is worse.

This would be on a thick, mature file

25years oldest account

7.8 years average age of accounts

2 months youngest. 

10 total credit cards. Total CL 144k. currently at 16% aggrigate, single card at 80% (0% card)  with the rest at or below 8% (these I always PIF each month)

Was considering which 0% card to go when my current 0% period ends. Then thought maybe the best approach is get two and spread between both.....

Thanks!

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It's better to spread it out.

[JoeRockhead]

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@Yankee2 wrote:

Scoring wise, Is it better to have one card with very high utilization or two cards with high utilization?

Example 1, 

$20,000/ $25,000

Example 2

$10,000/$25,000

$10,000/$25,000

I know there are thresholds that hurt scores, but also if muliple lines cross thresholds. Not sure which is worse.

This would be on a thick, mature file

25years oldest account

7.8 years average age of accounts

2 months youngest. 

10 total credit cards. Total CL 144k. currently at 16% aggrigate, single card at 80% (0% card)  with the rest at or below 8% (these I always PIF each month)

Was considering which 0% card to go when my current 0% period ends. Then thought maybe the best approach is get two and spread between both.....

Thanks!

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Although the score penalty should be the same for a single card from the 70% to 89% range, IMO it would be better on two cards as your individual card usage would at 40% (each), vs a single card at 80% while also providing a quicker path to get them under the 30% mark vs getting a single card to 69.9%, then 49.9% and so on. 

Of course this is based on the premise that you could be approved for two cards with an SL of $25k, not an easy feat for most.

Being you PIF the rest of your cards, you could also gain some points back by limiting the number of cards allowed to report balances to 2, or 3 (AZE2, AZE3) 

[Thomas_Thumb]

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@Yankee2 wrote:

Scoring wise, Is it better to have one card with very high utilization or two cards with high utilization?

Example 1, 

$20,000/ $25,000

Example 2

$10,000/$25,000

$10,000/$25,000

I know there are thresholds that hurt scores, but also if muliple lines cross thresholds. Not sure which is worse.

This would be on a thick, mature file

25years oldest account

7.8 years average age of accounts

2 months youngest. 

10 total credit cards. Total CL 144k. currently at 16% aggrigate, single card at 80% (0% card)  with the rest at or below 8% (these I always PIF each month)

Was considering which 0% card to go when my current 0% period ends. Then thought maybe the best approach is get two and spread between both.....

Thanks!

---

Two cards at 40% UT each would likely increase your score 20 points over one card at 80% UT - imo. Given you have an aged file with 10 cards, # cards reporting a balance up to 3 or even 4 should be inconsequential with Fico 8.

If you have multiple 0% apr options, starting them under 49% UT is a good plan.

[Yankee2]

Thanks all,

I did forget to mention the two cards I'm looking to get (BOA Unlimited, Chase Flex) I have existing cards with both banks that I plan on moving CL to the new cards.  (Would be a nice surprise if they start out high enough on thier own,  but I'm not holding my breath....) 

I won't get the Flex until later in the fall, hoping thats when they bring back the 12k for 12 months @ 5% grocery.

I don't plan on needing credit for anything large (car, house) in the foreseeable future, but really wanted my score to be no less than 760 when both cards would be at thier peak just in case (if I can have both CL at $25k, I shouldn't cross the 49% threshold on either)  My total utilization I'm guessing shouldn't cross 20%, so just 4% or so more than it is now. I don't have much more to score to play with, (20 more points or so)  so I'm looking at every point to save.

Thanks again!!