Credit gurus....payment question

[chronical]

Who cares, once you're in the top tier does it matter?

From a lender to consumer aspect, it doesn't. Approvals will still be the same. Some find it fun to try to obtain a perfect credit score though

[chronical]

yea that is why I was curious, 821/900 is good, but i do not know what else to do to get a perfect score if it isnt at this point!

0 inquiries
Oldest account more than 10 years old
Average age of accounts > 5-10 years
Perfect payment history
No negative accounts
1 % reported utilization

Some may have reached 850, or in this case 900 with a few differences butch the above is a sound game plan too

[slow99]

Who cares, once you're in the top tier does it matter?

[zachary]

Perfect scores are possible and aren't too uncommon. Btw, citi uses a bankcard enhanced fico that is not scaled to the traditional 850 but goes to 900. Here is a copy and paste

The classic FICO® Score which is in use today by the vast majority of lenders fall within the 300-850 score range. This score range was introduced to establish an easy-to-understand, common frame of reference for lenders and consumers. Industry-specific FICO® Scores, such as those for auto lending or credit card lending, were developed to accommodate the unique characteristics of their respective industry and range from 250-900. Some lenders also use FICO® Score NG, which ranges from 150-950.

yea that is why I was curious, 821/900 is good, but i do not know what else to do to get a perfect score if it isnt at this point!

[chronical]

Perfect scores are possible and aren't too uncommon. Btw, citi uses a bankcard enhanced fico that is not scaled to the traditional 850 but goes to 900. Here is a copy and paste

The classic FICO® Score which is in use today by the vast majority of lenders fall within the 300-850 score range. This score range was introduced to establish an easy-to-understand, common frame of reference for lenders and consumers. Industry-specific FICO® Scores, such as those for auto lending or credit card lending, were developed to accommodate the unique characteristics of their respective industry and range from 250-900. Some lenders also use FICO® Score NG, which ranges from 150-950.

[zachary]

Strange mine took another slight jump......

is it even possible to get a perfect score? any bankers on here ever witnessed one?

[Captain Crawfish]

What works for my score is leaving about 1-200 on the balance every month. Just showing you can responsibly manage a credit line helps your score.

[Hmbre97]

What I've found works best for me is using one card for all my purchases and keep all others at a $0 balance. When the due date rolls around, I pay it off in full. Between the payment due date and statement date, things that were pending will then post to the account. As long as you don't make any large purchases in those few days, the small balance that posts on the statement should keep you in that 1-9% range, especially if your cards have larger limits.

[jluv]

If it's just a few dollars, then it doesn't matter. If you carrying a few hundred or more, use the biggest limit

Cool, thanks again for the advice.

[chronical]

If it's just a few dollars, then it doesn't matter. If you carrying a few hundred or more, use the biggest limit

[jluv]

Just one card. And a couple bucks will suffice. The rest should have a zero balance

Ah, one card? Cool. That's good. Less hassle.

Does it matter which one? Should I use the one with the largest limit, smallest, somewhere in between?

Thanks for the info.

[chronical]

So if I'm hearing you right, I should keep a balance of 1-9% on each of my cards for the best possible score.

Just one card. And a couple bucks will suffice. The rest should have a zero balance

[jluv]

I always specify closing balance because some people don't understand that the balance that is on their statement when the billing cycle closes, is the amount that is reported to the 4 major credit bureaus. (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, and Innovis) Yes there are 4 major bureaus but most lenders do not use Innovis. So if you have a $10,000 credit card limit and rack up $9000 in charges, wait to get your bill in the mail or set your account for auto pay and pay it the day it is due, the credit card company still reported you as having a $9000 balance. This is important because utilization accounts for 30% of your score.
Here is a link to FICO's page explaining utilization.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/articles/fico_scores_credit_limit.aspx

So if you are constantly charging your card, and then letting the statement cut, then paying your credit card in full, then all of those balances are reported each month and it would appear as if you arent paying them down and your score would continue to suffer due to the reported utilization.

Anything over 50% of limit is extremely taxing on your score and really anything over 75-80% will be considered essentially maxed out. That number may be as high as 90% so don't quote me on exactly 75-80%.
30-40% will be scored fair
20-30% will be scored as ok
10-20% will be scored as good
1%-9% will yield the best possible score for a person's credit file.
0% scores the same as 10-20%

What this means, is if a person is currently at 20% utilization and has a credit score of 775, they would see incremental score increases as they decrease their utilization all the way down to 1%.
That same person will have a higher score with 1% utilization than if they had 0%.

Also, the various FICO models penalize us for having more than one card carrying a balance.

With all this being said, it doesn't mean that one can not have a good credit score without paying in full before their statements cuts and letting 1% report on one card and having $0 balances on all the others. It just means their score could be even better if they danced to FICO's tune.

Hope this helps

So if I'm hearing you right, I should keep a balance of 1-9% on each of my cards for the best possible score.

[chronical]

You might as well be speaking Japanese to me. What do you mean by closing balance? In my situation, with 5-6 cards with zero balance, ranging from $1000 to $10000 limits, does it benefit me to use them some or just leave them at zero? I don't need to use them for anything, even big purchases, but I could if it will help my score. And if that's the thing to do, how long do I let them carry a balance? Is it okay to pay them off the next day, or should I wait a month or two? Is there a proven formula?

I always specify closing balance because some people don't understand that the balance that is on their statement when the billing cycle closes, is the amount that is reported to the 4 major credit bureaus. (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, and Innovis) Yes there are 4 major bureaus but most lenders do not use Innovis. So if you have a $10,000 credit card limit and rack up $9000 in charges, wait to get your bill in the mail or set your account for auto pay and pay it the day it is due, the credit card company still reported you as having a $9000 balance. This is important because utilization accounts for 30% of your score.
Here is a link to FICO's page explaining utilization.

http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/articles/fico_scores_credit_limit.aspx

So if you are constantly charging your card, and then letting the statement cut, then paying your credit card in full, then all of those balances are reported each month and it would appear as if you arent paying them down and your score would continue to suffer due to the reported utilization.

Anything over 50% of limit is extremely taxing on your score and really anything over 75-80% will be considered essentially maxed out. That number may be as high as 90% so don't quote me on exactly 75-80%.
30-40% will be scored fair
20-30% will be scored as ok
10-20% will be scored as good
1%-9% will yield the best possible score for a person's credit file.
0% scores the same as 10-20%

What this means, is if a person is currently at 20% utilization and has a credit score of 775, they would see incremental score increases as they decrease their utilization all the way down to 1%.
That same person will have a higher score with 1% utilization than if they had 0%.

Also, the various FICO models penalize us for having more than one card carrying a balance.

With all this being said, it doesn't mean that one can not have a good credit score without paying in full before their statements cuts and letting 1% report on one card and having $0 balances on all the others. It just means their score could be even better if they danced to FICO's tune.

Hope this helps

[jluv]

Also, in case there was some confusion, your credit score does not benefit simply by using the card. The benefit comes from the length of time you have had the card open and the closing balance of the card in relation to your overall credit limit as a single trade line and as a total of balances on all cards in relation to total credit limits. If you had no credit history and opened x amount of cards and never used them for a year, your score would be the same as if you charged them all heavily and paid in full. (before the statement closed)

You might as well be speaking Japanese to me. What do you mean by closing balance? In my situation, with 5-6 cards with zero balance, ranging from $1000 to $10000 limits, does it benefit me to use them some or just leave them at zero? I don't need to use them for anything, even big purchases, but I could if it will help my score. And if that's the thing to do, how long do I let them carry a balance? Is it okay to pay them off the next day, or should I wait a month or two? Is there a proven formula?