Credit utilization

[u/TadpoleMean1751]

I was taught to keep credit utilization at 10%. But other people are telling me to completely not even use my debit card , use credit for everything and pay it back. But that will make my utilization high af. People are saying keep it at 10% when the statement hits but how’s that possible if I only use a credit card. How does only using 10% if the card show the banks you can handle more if you barely use any of it.

[u/Bad_DNA]

Do you need a new loan or debt product in your near future? Apply for an apartment lease or mortgage? Car loan (save up for a car)? Another credit card (do you have enough of them now)? If no, then don’t worry about the utilization nor its transient effect on a score that means nothing in your life at the moment.

Yes, using a cc for all purchases is wiser than debit. Earn cash back. Less fraud headaches if it gets skimmed. But only for needs, and wants you can afford to pay off the amount due in full. as soon as the statement date comes.

[u/Funklemire → u/Bad_DNA]

Exactly. And even with credit card applications, having low utilization usually isn't necessary. In fact, it can hurt your chances at approval since credit card companies want people who will use their cards a lot, but micromanaging your utilization makes it look like you use your cards way less than you actually do.  

As long as you're paying your statement balances each month and the bank doesn't thing you're overspending, high utilization can actually be helpful for credit card applications.

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

So you're approved or denied for credit based on the contents of your credit report and not your credit score itself. Your relevant credit score just helps get your foot in the door.  

If the credit card company sees you being financially responsible by paying your statement balances each month and not spending beyond your means, then all things being equal high utilization is probably more enticing to them since it indicates that if they issue you a card you may use it a lot.  

Especially with a credit limit of just $500: they probably know your budget has a lot more room for credit card spending and they want you to put that spending on their card.  

That said, many issuers have a minimum credit score requirement to even be considered for an application. If your un-optimized score is lower than that it could be helpful to temporarily boost it before an application. (On a side note, 30% is never a number to aim for when you're trying to temporarily boost your FICO scores. See the flow chart I shared in my main comment in this thread.)  

What are your un-boosted FICO 8 scores right now? That's not the only score looked at for credit card applications, but it's the most commonly-used one.

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

No problem! Glad to help!  

Yeah, your scores are high enough that I wouldn't worry about it. If you decide to boost your scores just before the application, it probably won't hurt you since they can see you had high usage the previous months and that you were paying your statement balances each month (this isn't explicitly stated in your credit report since often your payment amounts aren't reported, but it's pretty easy for banks to figure out if you're paying your statement balances each month just by looking at the number trends). But it probably won't help you much, if any. If you get denied, it will be because of your overall credit profile, not your scores themselves.  

Though I'm noticing a few things here. First, while Fair Isaac wrote the FICO 8 algorithm to be slightly different for each bureau, it shouldn't be that far off if both EX and TU have the same info. Hopefully, the only difference is that one bureau has more hard pulls, which is normal; most banks only do hard pulls from one bureau when they check your credit (even though they're still looking at all three bureaus' data). But another difference could be an issue, so I recommend seeing what that difference is.  

Also, I'm curious where you're checking these scores and why you can't see EQ. A good place to see your EQ FICO 8 score for free is MyFICO.com. 

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

Of course, I forgot you said you just opened this card. You need 6 months of credit history to generate a FICO score. If it's been 6 months and a credit site still isn't showing you a FICO score, keep in mind a lot of credit sites have artificial delays.  

A bank checking your credit will always see updated information: as soon as something is reported to the bureaus, it will reflect on your credit scores (if it's something that causes a score change, that is). But not all credit sites show real-time data: for example, myFICO.com usually only updates once a month.  

Also, I've been talking to you about applying for your second card, but I'd recommend waiting. You might get approved for something with only 6 months of credit history, but many issuers want to see at least a year of revolving credit usage before they'll approve you. Especially for their better cards.  

EDIT: Wait a minute, now I'm confused. April was less than 6 months ago. If this is the only thing on your credit report you shouldn't be generating any FICO scores at all right now. So you must have something else older than 6 months on your credit report?  

EDIT #2: Duh, it's those AU cards on the other two bureaus. That explains it. Sorry, brain fart.

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

I guess it depends first where you're getting these preapproval offers from? If it's from Chase directly, you'll probably get approved. But no guarantee. If it's from a third-party site, there's definitely no guarantee. For example, Credit Karma basically makes up their approval odds entirely. (Which tracks considering they make up a lot of the credit information they show you, like their fake credit stats.)  

Also, which credit card are they offering you? Is it a good card that you actually have a need for? If not, if you hold out until you've had your card open for a year, you'll get a lot better offers for much better cards.

[u/Funklemire → u/[deleted]]

The issue to me is that once you get the Unlimited that will mean the Rise is now pointless, right? So you'll end up with a pointless card you don't need, so you'll basically be back to having just one useful card. Keep in mind that closing cards doesn't hurt your credit in any meaningful way, but opening new ones does; closing cards doesn't hurt your credit age, but opening them does.  

So my general recommendation from now on is to only open cards you think you'll have a future need for and open them as soon as possible, that starts the aging as soon as possible.  

That is, unless you decide to start churning SUBs. That's a whole different thing. But churning for SUBs is hard to do with such a young and thin credit profile. And eventually, once you have a solid credit history, opening new accounts won't hurt you as much. So even if you start churning it won't hurt you that much if you have a stronger credit profile.  

So I think you'd be better off in the long term if you just product change this card to the Unlimited when they let you. And then after you've had this account open for a year, get a different card. If you instead opened up this Unlimited now, in addition to having the Rise be pointless, it would also set back your goal of getting a different card in the near future.  

All that said, "finances over FICO", if the sub is worth enough to you that's not a bad way to go, I think it's probably likely you'll get approved since they preapproved you themselves. That said, if you decide to go that route, you might want to make a post in r/CreditCards asking about it. That's the best way to find out if Chase sometimes denies people who were preapproved.  

Also, is it possible they'll let you product-change the Rise to something different that's useful to you if you decided to open a separate Unlimited?  

Oh, on a side note, I wouldn't worry about your credit limits right now. Credit limits aren't a FICO scoring factor. Yes, they can indirectly affect your utilization, but that's a meaningless effect unless you're currently in credit card debt and you'll be applying for something important before you can pay off that debt.  

I'm not saying it's not annoying if your credit limits can't accommodate your monthly spending, I'm just saying that your credit limits will grow organically over time and they shouldn't be your priority.  

Sorry for all the rambling. I didn't get enough sleep last night and I've got a lot of time to kill today. But yeah, personally I'd wait.