Will increasing my utilization from 0% to 1% help my Fico score....

[Madison]

I have paid in full 3 credit cards to zero....I keep hearing about if you get a bump in credit scores when you get your utilization under 10%. Which is better for Fico scoring 0% or 1%.

[MidnightVoice]

ICO likes to see people acyually use their cards.  But I am not totally convinced that it needs to see a balance

[fused]

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Madison wrote:

I have paid in full 3 credit cards to zero....I keep hearing about if you get a bump in credit scores when you get your utilization under 10%. Which is better for Fico scoring 0% or 1%.

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For max FICO points, allow the CC with the highest CL to report a balance of < 9%. Keep the other two CC at 0.

[Anonymous]

< 3%...........but not 0.

[fused]

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cobra19 wrote:

< 3%...........but not 0.

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??

[Anonymous]

Yes, I agree to let one credit card report a balance at 3% or less.....

When I pulled my credit last (in signature), the lowest score had a 3% utilization on my credit cards and the other two showed 1% (because the lowest score hadn't updated the new lower balance on my cc).

Other than the Utilization difference everything on the reports mirrored each other.

You have to use your credit to get the most points.

Message Edited by 1111mel on 07-30-2008 02:18 PM

[Anonymous]

The boost does not raise score long term only while the UTL is in the sweet spot. After viewing many CRs I found that under 4% was about the same as 0%. Activity is what you need. Keep balances as low as possible. 3% might be better for some people but found under 4% does the same. But keep in mind keeping a LOW UTL does not raise scores in other areas since their High or Low UTL history is not counted that I found. Activity is what you want regardless of balances.

** But your question was specific. Would you get an increase in score from going from 0% to 1%. In most cases YES.

Would you get a score increase from 0% to 3%. In all CRs that I have seen 0% and 3% were scored the same.

Keep in mind that 0% is not the same as not using your cards. Reporting activity and 0% is good. No activity and 0% does not help. Only active cards build history. Some CC companies still report activity even if you don't use the cards. LOVE THEM!!!

[Anonymous]

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@fused wrote:

For max FICO points, allow the CC with the highest CL to report a balance of 9%. Keep the other two CC at 0.

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Hi Fused. What happens if you use the lowest CL reporting a balance and others at 0? Does it make a difference which CC shows a balance or just that it is 1 card? Thanks.

[smallfry]

I think some very high scorers report better scores (slightly) with 0% utilization showing. I think FICO can see activity with 0% utilization (if there is any) but not sure which issuers report this correctly so maybe it is best to get the utilization under 4% and keep it there. For most 0% might yield a slightly lower score than under 4%.

[fused]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@fused wrote:

For max FICO points, allow the CC with the highest CL to report a balance of 9%. Keep the other two CC at 0.

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Hi Fused. What happens if you use the lowest CL reporting a balance and others at 0? Does it make a difference which CC shows a balance or just that it is 1 card? Thanks.

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I made this recommendation because it might be easier to keep util below 9% with a higher limit card...ya know, more wiggle room.