My Profile - Fico 8 - High Utilization

Question

I have decided to post my profile and will update as changes are made. I have what I would call a very stable profile.  My oldest card, depending on which bureau, ranges from 28.8 to 35.2 years.  My average age ranges from 15.8 to 17.9 years.  My two newest cards just turned 8 years on July 1st.  The only inquiry I have will be 2 years old on July 26th for a phone service. On 2/25/15, I started to be more aware of account balances and did not let a single one increase since then.  In the past, I have had balances go up or down but never increased my total utilization.    I have one $30 paid medical collection from Oct 2012 and one 30 day late payment  which will be 5 yrs on Aug 1st.  EX and EQ have both of these shown and TU has neither.  My accounts are as follows: 2/25/15                       6/9 cards w/balances             44% utilizationBoA                              95% utilChase Freedom        62%Chase Slate               37%USAA                          93%Universal                    24%Kohls                           $50.00 Scores:  EQ 724       TU 734        EX  728  2/26/15Paid USAA down to 93%  Scores:  EQ  731       TU  734      EX   731   From 2/26/15 to 5/26/15 there were no score changes.  During that time I paid the $50 balance on Kohls so had 5/9 cards reporting and brought USAA down to 89%. The Chase Freedom also went below 60%  5/26/15                   5/9 cards reporting                  41% utilizationBrought BoA down to 89% utilization. Scores:    EQ  735    TU  744       EX 734 Sometime between 5/26/15 and 6/14/15, my EX went up to 738 with no alert triggered. From 6/23/15 to 6/26/15, my EX score went up and down each down from 738 to 742 then back down and back up.  It finally settled at 742 on 6/28. I pulled the 3B on CCT on 7/3/15 and scores were as follows: Scores:    EQ  735    TU 744     EX 745 My EX increased 3 points on 7/1/15 which is when my average age went to 18 yrs. EX increased 1 point on 7/12/15 which is when my two newest cards turned 8 yrs. Current Scores:  EQ 735   TU 744   EX  746 Of interest is the fact that EX is 2 points higher than TU and TU doesn't have the late payment or collection.  To me, this shows that the high utilization is a bigger factor than the late payment and collection. I have paid USAA down to 78% and will be running a 3B on CCT as soon as it reports, which should be in the next few days. I have also paid BoA down to 79% and will run a 3B when that reports, which should be around the 26th. I also have a heloc at 32% and a mortage at 78%.  No installment loans. I will have to check my total and individual utilization to see where it's at on all of the cards. Hope this all makes sense.  Will update as changes occur.  I am not looking for any advice as I have a solid plan on paying off my cards and many of these are at  0%or low rates.  Only one is a higher rate and I will get back to paying that at an accelerated rate now that the two high utilization cards are below 80%.         

Answer 1

cj1132 wrote:
I have decided to post my profile and will update as changes are made. I have what I would call a very stable profile.  My oldest card, depending on which bureau, ranges from 28.8 to 35.2 years.  My average age ranges from 15.8 to 17.9 years.  My two newest cards just turned 8 years on July 1st.  The only inquiry I have will be 2 years old on July 26th for a phone service. On 2/25/15, I started to be more aware of account balances and did not let a single one increase since then.  In the past, I have had balances go up or down but never increased my total utilization.    I have one $30 paid medical collection from Oct 2012 and one 30 day late payment  which will be 5 yrs on Aug 1st.  EX and EQ have both of these shown and TU has neither.  My accounts are as follows: 2/25/15                       6/9 cards w/balances             44% utilization Scores:  EQ 724       TU 734        EX  728 2/26/15Paid USAA down to 93%  Scores:  EQ  731       TU  734      EX   731   From 2/26/15 to 5/26/15 there were no score changes.  During that time I paid the $50 balance on Kohls so had 5/9 cards reporting and brought USAA down to 89%. The Chase Freedom also went below 60% 5/26/15                   5/9 cards reporting                  41% utilizationBrought BoA down to 89% utilization. Scores:    EQ  735    TU  744       EX 734 I pulled the 3B on CCT on 7/3/15 and scores were as follows: Scores:    EQ  735    TU 744     EX 745 Current Scores:  EQ 735   TU 744   EX  746 I have also paid BoA down to 79% and will run a 3B when that reports, which should be around the 26th. I also have a heloc at 32% and a mortage at 78%.  No installment loans. I will have to check my total and individual utilization to see where it's at on all of the cards. Hope this all makes sense.  Will update as changes occur.  I am not looking for any advice as I have a solid plan on paying off my cards and many of these are at  0%or low rates.  Only one is a higher rate and I will get back to paying that at an accelerated rate now that the two high utilization cards are below 80%.  Thanks for sharing your data. Your AAoA is impressive. You may want to pay off low balance cards to get the # of cards reporting a blance down to three from five. The % of cards reporting can be a significant factor on scoring.  The primary factor keeping your score down appears to be aggregate utilization percentage.  A couple thresholds I have wondered about are 35% and 20%. You are approaching the 35% mark. Utilization on individual cards - at least up to 80% - has not been shown to impact Fico 8 score. It would be interesting to try and isolate impact on score associated with each of the following if your pay down schedule allows:1) Any step change in score as aggregate utilization drops2) Any step change in score associated with reducing % or # of cards reporting a balance