What the utilization Thresholds percentage wise

[Rwil72]

I have a Capital One card that’s maxed out. I can take it under 50% this week. I was wondering would I get a little boost on score for doing this or it doesn’t help you until you get under 30% utilIzation?

[Jannelo]

I don't know if this helps.  This is regarding a charged-off Cap One account, not a current one.  I am paying down the amount owed.  The high balance was 3,966 owed on a 4,000 CL card.   Another $400 worth of payments finally posted, taking it  from 54 percent utilization on the charged-off amount to 44 percent utilization.  I am now at a $1,766 balance left.

On Equifax, I immediately saw a 10 point increase in my FICO score.  I initially only saw a 1 point incease on Experian, but two days later I woke up to a 9 percent increase.  Nothing else had changed, so I have to attribute it to that.   Transunion has not updated to reflect the new balance and the new reduction in utilization on that account, so no change in FICO score on TU.

I had pulled my reports a week before, preparing for this $400 worth of payments to this charged-off account to post.  I wanted to be able to compare the scores on all reports and see how dropping below 50 percent utilization would affect my score.  I can't remember the threshhold percentage I was aiming to be under.  Maybe it was 49 percent or 47 percent I had read on this site, but I made sure to be under. 

I was disappointed TU hadn't reported it yet.  It still hasn't.  It seems to lag way behind in reporting updates to this charged-off account.  I have no idea why.

[Anonymous]

Taking it to 50% should increase your score. You wouldn't get hit with the max penalty and you would cross two thresholds 88.9% and 68.9%.

[Anonymous]

---

@Rwil72 wrote:
I have a Capital One card that’s maxed out. I can take it under 50% this week. I was wondering would I get a little boost on score for doing this or it doesn’t help you until you get under 30% utilIzation?

---

The utilization thresholds for an individual credit card are 28.9%, 48.9%, 68.9% and 88.9%.  Above 88.9% utilization is considered maxed out.  If you are able to bring the utilization down to below 48.9% you will see a boost in your scores since you will cross three utilization thresholds.  

Any score bump will also be influenced by your aggregate utilization; which you did not mention.

[Rwil72]

It is the only card I have, so it is my total usage. Thanks for the information. The knowledge gained on this forum is priceless. I feel better about taking my bonus and paying the card down. I need to get my score up to refinance mortgage. Thanks again to everyone who replied.

[Anonymous]

While I do respect people who have the will to limit themselves to only one card. I do feel that people really should have more than one, especially if carring a balance. Just for this type of situation, having what seems to be a high balance continually on just one card can be problematic.

I wouldn't apply rigth before a Mortgage, but i think it be wise to add at least a second card sometime after. 

just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

---

@Rwil72 wrote:
It is the only card I have, so it is my total usage.

---

So, you'd then be crossing the 48.9% threshold on both aggregate and individual card utilization.  This should be worth a good 15 points or so, IMO.

[Anonymous]

A tidbit to add - if you can get to 50%, dig a little deeper and get to 47%. That’ll give you that additional tier crossing at 48.9% as mentioned above, and by going to 47%, after interest is added at the next statement cut, it should keep you below 48.9% so you don’t lose that extra tier you crossed.

[SouthJamaica]

---

@Rwil72 wrote:
I have a Capital One card that’s maxed out. I can take it under 50% this week. I was wondering would I get a little boost on score for doing this or it doesn’t help you until you get under 30% utilIzation?

---

It will help to get it down to 48 or 49%;