 TITLE: How Important Is Credit Card Utilization to Your Credit Score? CONTENT: How Does Credit Card Utilization Affect Your Credit Score?\n----------------------------------------------------------\nCredit card utilization can have a direct and significant impact on your credit scores. Depending on whether it's a FICO® or VantageScore® credit score, utilization falls within one of the two most important categories in determining your score. In either case, higher utilization ratios can hurt your scores, while lower utilization rates can help them.\nMost credit scores (there are many) only factor in your most recently reported balances and credit limits and the resulting utilization ratios. In these cases, using your card often or for major purchases can lead to a high utilization ratio that hurts your scores. But paying off the balance and maintaining a lower balance could help bring your scores back up.\nSome of the latest credit scoring models, such VantageScore 4.0 and FICO® Score☉ 10T, also consider your balance trends and payments over time. Having a history of paying off your balance in full or paying off your debt over time, rather than having a steady or growing balance, can help you improve these scores even more. END