Utilization planner

How the planner does the math

Utilization is the share of your credit limits that your balances use. FICO counts it in the amounts owed category, which it says makes up about 30% of a FICO Score for the general population. It looks at the total across your cards and at individual cards, so this planner shows both.

Card utilization = card balance ÷ card limit
Overall utilization = total of all balances ÷ total of all limits

Money is handled in whole cents so nothing drifts from rounding. Percentages are shown to one decimal place.

The fewest-cards plan

The planner first works out the most you can owe and still be at your target: total limits times the target, rounded down to the cent. The gap between that and what you owe now is the cash you need to pay. It then finds the smallest number of cards that can cover the gap. If more than one set of cards would do it, it picks the set with the highest-utilization cards and pays them from highest utilization to lowest, each to $0 until the last one only needs part of its balance.

Allowed balance = total limits × target, rounded down to the cent
Cash needed = total balances − allowed balance

The AZEO plan

AZEO means all zero except one. You pay every card to $0 before its statement closes except one, which reports a small balance. People on the myFICO Forums use it to squeeze the most out of the amounts owed category before a loan application. It isn’t an official FICO rule, and the gain, if any, depends on your file. By default the planner keeps the balance on the card with the highest limit, at 1% of that limit or the current balance, whichever is lower, with a $5 minimum when the card has a balance. If the card you pick has no balance, you’d need to put a small charge on it and let it post before the statement closes.

Worked example

Say you have two cards. Card A has $2,400 on a $5,000 limit. Card B has $850 on a $3,000 limit. These are the example cards the planner loads.

Neither card alone owes $2,530, so the plan needs both. Card A has the higher utilization, so it gets paid first, all $2,400 of it. The remaining $130 goes to Card B, which drops to $720 (24.0% of its limit). Overall: $720 ÷ $8,000 = 9.0%.

For AZEO, Card A has the higher limit, so it keeps the balance. 1% of $5,000 is $50, which is less than the $2,400 it owes, so it keeps $50. You’d pay $2,350 on Card A and $850 on Card B, $3,200 in all, and the overall figure becomes $50 ÷ $8,000 = 0.6%.

At a 29% target the allowed balance is $2,320, so you’d need $930. Card A alone covers that, so the plan pays $930 on Card A and leaves Card B alone. That shows the tradeoff: Card A still reports 29.4% on its own.

What the evidence says about targets

In a February 2022 release, myFICO said lower utilization is better, that consumers below 10% tend to do well, that its data doesn’t support the idea of a cliff at 30%, and that having 0% utilization can keep you from getting the maximum points. FICO doesn’t publish point values for any of this, so this tool shows ratios and dollars, never a predicted score.

Timing matters as much as the amount. Most issuers report the balance from your statement closing date, which comes at least 21 days before the payment due date under Regulation Z. Paying in full on the due date avoids interest, but the balance on the statement has usually already been reported. The statement date planner turns each closing date into a pay-by date.

Sources

• What Should My Credit Utilization Ratio Be? (myFICO release, February 2022)
• What is Amounts Owed? (myFICO)
• What’s in my FICO Scores? (myFICO)
• How to AZEO (myFICO Forums thread)
• 12 CFR 1026.5, statement timing under Regulation Z (eCFR)
• When Do Credit Card Companies Report to Credit Bureaus? (Equifax)